


Postcards from Tokyo

by FeatheredSparks



Category: Teen Titans (Animated Series)
Genre: (not much though), Canon-Typical Violence, F/M, Friendship, Humor, Like immediately after, Post-Trouble in Tokyo
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-01
Updated: 2021-02-28
Packaged: 2021-02-27 22:00:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 22,878
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22512883
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FeatheredSparks/pseuds/FeatheredSparks
Summary: The bad guy's beaten, Robin's name has been cleared and it's high time the Titans had a vacation! Our heroes are taking Tokyo by storm, but they must adjust to a few new team dynamics on the way.
Relationships: Dick Grayson & Koriand'r & Garfield Logan & Raven & Victor Stone, Dick Grayson/Koriand'r
Comments: 30
Kudos: 48





	1. (Prologue) Something More

**Author's Note:**

> Allll righty, here we are at the start of my latest big project! Surprisingly, there don't seem to be many if any fanfics about the big ol' vacation the Titans went on just after Trouble in Tokyo; the closest I've seen were a handful of oneshots about Robin and Starfire being cute together during a short part of the trip, and a couple fics that started out during or just after the vacation but then turned into sweeping adventures. And while those make for some great stories, I thought it would be nice to explore a more fun and relaxed scenario featuring all of the Titans just hanging out and getting into vacation shenanigans. There will be a bit more going on as well, of course, but I'll be leaving those details for the story itself to unveil. Enjoy!

It was a dark and stormy night, but in the grand scheme of things, Raven thought it was actually pretty nice.

Not in the "doom and gloom fits the vibe I'm going for" sense, either. The rain was cleansing, in a way – it was certainly doing an excellent job of cleaning up the stray ink from the monster Daizo had become, and with how late everyone had been up, the cold shower and the distant crash of thunder were a welcome replacement for the ebbing rush of monster-fueled adrenaline.

Besides that was the simple relief of a job well done. Brushogun's spell was broken, Daizo's reliance on said spell meant that he had been thoroughly defeated, and after that last display, the Titans surely had enough evidence to clear their names.

Also, Robin and Starfire were kissing.

Raven wasn't sure what she thought of that. Well, yeah, she was _happy_ for them. That much was a given. But she also couldn't decide whether she was more surprised at the fact that they had _finally_ gotten together, or that it had taken them this long in the first place.

And then there was Robin himself. Tonight had been an excellent reminder of her love-hate relationship with their whole empathic bond thing – mostly because he'd spent the majority of it flipping back and forth between locking his emotions up tight and carelessly projecting them everywhere. It had helped her and the others pinpoint his location when he was dealing with the Tokyo Troopers, but darn it all if it wasn't also giving her a headache. Now, too, it leant an extra sense of invasion of privacy to what was clearly a genuine first kiss.

Still, he and Starfire should be grateful for her empathic sense. Cyborg and Beast Boy had nearly interrupted their little moment by declaring a victory celebration, but with Robin's emotional walls so far down, she'd known well enough to hold them off.

Back to the present. The… couple?… had broken off after a few seconds and were now just sitting and basking in the warmth of each other's affection. For several moments, the other three just waited and watched, silent but for a quick quip from Cyborg.

But then Raven was distracted by the sound of rapid tapping. She turned back to see Cyborg typing something into the console on his arm and grinning like a loon.

"What are you doing?" she asked, eyes narrowed.

Cyborg glanced back at her and plastered an innocent smile on his face. "Just… letting the Titans Network know we're all right," he claimed. "Uhh, you know, because some of them probably saw the whole 'Robin got arrested' newsflash and everything."

Raven raised an eyebrow. "Right."

Between them, Beast Boy suddenly perked, his smile widening into a grin. "Helloooo!" he called, waving.

Raven looked back ahead to see that Robin and Starfire had finally remembered she and the others were there. Both faces had gone crimson, and Robin rubbed the back of his neck as he stood and reached out a hand to help Starfire to her feet.

And that was about when the police sirens entered hearing range, breaking the spell completely.

* * *

It was a long night. It had already been a long night, between Robin's arrest and the ink creature attacks and the chase through Tokyo and the final altercation with Daizo. But then once the police showed up, they had to explain everything and provide enough evidence to clear Robin's name.

That part, at least, was even easier than Raven had predicted. While most of the ink from the creatures outside had been washed away in the rain, there was still some intact equipment left in the old factory – including footage from all the surveillance Daizo had been doing, and in particular the second Saico-Tek's calculated attack. There was also the matter of the Tokyo Troopers – most of them had, after all, been Brushogun's creations, and the few humans Daizo had hired to allay suspicion were ready witnesses to the fact that their coworkers had apparently _melted_ in the same moment the monster went down.

Even so, by the time Daizo had been arrested and the mayor had offered the Titans a formal apology and clearance of all charges, nobody really wanted to do anything other than sleep.

That was why Robin found himself standing awkwardly outside the girls' room the next morning, at once extremely tired and far too full of nervous energy.

Robin clicked his teeth as he raised a hand to the door for the hundredth time in the past five minutes. The girls were probably still asleep, and Raven wasn't even the one he needed to talk to. He wasn't sure how much longer he could stand putting this off, though.

Finally, he took a deep breath and rapped lightly on the door.

After a few moments, it opened to an equally exhausted-looking Starfire. Her boots had been kicked off and her hair was a tangled mess, but in Robin's eyes she was as beautiful as ever. He felt his cheeks flush.

"Um… hi," he whispered. "I didn't wake you up, did I?"

Starfire shook her head, her cheeks coloring as well. "Truthfully, I did not get very much sleep," she admitted.

Robin nodded and cleared his throat. "Me neither. Umm… We didn't really get to talk last night, after, uhh…" he trailed off, blushing again. Starfire smiled, her eyes glittering with mischief.

"I seem to recall that I did not want you to talk too much." She thought for a moment, biting her lip. "But yes, perhaps now would be a good time."

Robin nodded again and took a moment to glance around the room he was in. It was the common area of a modest but well-sized hotel suite, and Cyborg had set up a makeshift charging station for himself on the pull-out couch. He was still fast asleep, and as far as Robin could tell, Beast Boy and Raven were the same way in their respective rooms, but he didn't want to risk waking anyone up. Not with the nature of the discussion he and Starfire needed to have.

With that in mind, he turned back to her. "Do you think we can talk on the roof?"

The hotel they were staying in had a rooftop terrace, dotted with decorative plants and lined with tables for guests to sit at as they enjoyed the view of the city. It was empty now as the pair stole up to the roof, and without saying a word they chose a spot on the floor as close to the edge as the safety fencing would allow.

They sat side by side, looking out over the city below. Neither said anything for several minutes, opting instead to simply enjoy one another's company. It was pleasant – wonderful even, to have a truly quiet moment together after everything that had happened the night before. But Robin knew there was still just a little more to be done.

Finally, he let out a low sigh.

"I'm sorry."

Starfire blinked and turned to look at him, her brows furrowed. "Whatever for?"

Robin frowned. "What for? For being so… afraid, for starters. For taking so long to do anything about us. For pushing you away at the last second when we were on Tokyo Tower." He groaned and ground the heel of his hand into his forehead. "And for suggesting that the alien princess who _gave up the crown_ _she'd been groomed for_ so she could go back to hero work on Earth didn't appreciate it."

Starfire winced, and the little knife that had been in Robin's gut all morning twisted. "I… will not deny that that hurt," she admitted.

Robin squeezed his eyes shut for a moment and sighed again. "I know. It was stupid and stubborn of me to say that and… I'm sorry. I was just so wrapped up in the Brushogun case that I let it distract me and then I worried that… that _us_ was the distraction and…"

Starfire's gaze softened, and she placed her hand over his. "Robin, you cannot be too hard on yourself. You are a brilliant and determined leader, and you were right to worry about Brushogun." She bit her lip. "Perhaps if I had been more understanding about your concerns, we could have prevented –"

Robin shook his head. "Star, _don't_. I was the one pushing you away, and I know you would have supported me if I'd given you a chance."

The two of them stopped, just now realizing how close their faces had become. Robin had placed a hand over the side of her jaw without thinking, and for a moment they just looked at each other.

Starfire dropped her gaze first, though she leaned a little into his hand even as her expression darkened. "Robin? You have always been so uncertain about our relationship… Is there a chance you may come to regret this?"

"No!" The amount of fierce certainty in his reply surprised even him. He let his hand fall and really thought over the question. Wasn't this the whole reason he'd wanted to talk?

"I… I don't want to. I don't want to be that person anymore, who gets so caught up in the mission that he's afraid of letting himself be vulnerable. I want to remember that I've got a whole team behind me, and to deal with problems without getting obsessive, and… I want to be with you."

He let his gaze drop and frowned. "But… I'm afraid that I might forget that sometimes. I might need you to remind me."

Starfire didn't answer at first, but when he looked up again, he saw that a soft and understanding smile had made its way to her face.

"Of course I will remind you," she murmured, cupping a hand behind his neck and leaning in to rest her forehead against his. "We are at our best when we are together, and I will gladly help you to be the best version of yourself if you will do the same for me."

Robin returned her smile and let his eyes drift closed. "Always." After only a moment's thought, he leaned forward and caught her up in a kiss.

It was a simple thing, not as short as their first had been but still a little new and uncertain. Even so, he felt her smile against his mouth as she returned the kiss, her other arm snaking up to loop both around his neck. His skin tingled at her touch, and his heart pounded with the joy of the intimate moment.

How on earth had he ever resisted this? And more importantly, _why_? All the arguments he'd had with himself before – that this was a distraction, that she'd somehow end up in more danger than she regularly put herself through already, that he'd mess something up and lose her altogether – seemed so foolish now.

They parted, and Robin dimly realized that, as usual, they had managed to dance around the specifics while discussing their relationship. They _knew_ what they were now, and what they meant to each other, but as he sat there, eyes still closed, forehead still resting against hers as her soft breath tickled his face, he realized he was finally ready to say it out loud.

"I love you," he murmured.

Starfire's breath caught, and Robin stiffened. Had he said that too soon? Panic washed over him – of _course_ he'd said that too soon, they had only _just_ become a couple and now she was going to either turn him down or feel pressured to return this level of affection and it was going to make everything horribly awkward and –

Robin forced himself to take a deep breath. Face flushing, he sat back and opened his eyes to properly gauge her reaction.

Starfire was staring at him, wide-eyed with a slack expression, but before he could scramble for an explanation it split into an overjoyed grin. All at once, she threw her arms around him in a tight hug.

"I love you too," she whispered, her breath hot against his ear. "With all my heart."

Just like that, panic turned to relief to pure exhilaration and _bliss_. Robin melted as he returned her embrace, relishing the warmth of her arms around his shoulders and the lingering scent of rain in her hair. For just a moment, there in the early morning sun, everything was perfect.

So naturally, that was the moment Beast Boy chose to come bursting in.

" _There_ you guys are!" The scratchy voice startled Robin and Starfire out of their hug, and they turned around to see their green teammate standing in the terrace doorway. He folded his arms and cocked an eyebrow.

"You were gone for so long, we were starting to wonder if you'd snuck off somewhere to have– WAH!"

Beast Boy was interrupted by a dark aura engulfing the back of his shirt and yanking him back through the doorway. From inside, Robin could hear Raven's voice scolding, "I thought I told you to give them another minute!"

Robin shared a glance with Starfire. He raised an eyebrow, but a tiny smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. She giggled.

"It would appear that the others are awake," she commented. Robin felt his smile widen.

Raven appeared in the doorway, Beast Boy peeking around her shoulder. "The mayor called a few minutes ago," she reported. "Apparently he's setting up a medal ceremony for us. We're supposed to be there at noon."

Robin blinked. "A medal ceremony? _That_ was a fast turnaround."

Beast Boy snorted as Robin and Starfire stood up. "With the way Daizo was going on, I bet he gave a ton of them to those fake troopers before we kicked their butts," he pointed out. "He probably wants to fix that ASAP."

Robin stretched – this new development had reminded him of his lingering exhaustion. "Thanks for the update. If we're going out in public in a few hours, I'm going to try and get a little more rest first." He bit back a yawn. "And then maybe a gallon of coffee."

As he started forward, he felt a hand come to rest on his shoulder and give it a gentle squeeze. He looked over to see Starfire, still smiling at him.

"Perhaps we can find some time to ourselves after the ceremony?" she suggested, in too soft a voice for their teammates to hear.

Robin reached up and intertwined his fingers with hers. A part of him marveled at how readily he could just… hold hands with her now.

"I'd like that," he said.


	2. New Robin

Tokyo really knew how to make its heroes feel welcome.

There was a veritable sea of people at the medal ceremony, and their energy was palpable. Colorful confetti fell from above, fans and reporters alike crowded the stage, and the mayor looked half-ready to launch into a speech.

Beast Boy rubbed the back of his head, a scowl on his face. " _Ra_ -ven, what was that one even _for_?!" he complained.

Raven raised an eyebrow. "Robin just followed up getting framed for murder by letting us stick around for a vacation, and the first thing you do is try to plan the _next_ one. Stop pushing it."

Beast Boy had opened his mouth to retort, but after a moment, he glanced at Robin and let it go with a small huff.

Robin cringed inwardly. This was not the direction he had expected this conversation to go. He felt Starfire squeeze his hand and glanced over to see her casting him a concerned look. He frowned.

"Guys, you don't have to fret over me," he urged them. "We've been through a lot lately and the whole point of this is to relax and not worry too much for once."

Beast Boy blinked several times in an exaggerated show of shock. "Wha– _You_ , not worrying?" He smirked. "Okay, who are you and what did you do with our leader?"

Robin scowled. "Come on, I'm not _that_ bad."

Cyborg walked up behind him and clapped a hand on his shoulder. "Yeah, B. It's obvious we're not dealing with a replacement." He paused a beat before adding, "Otherwise Starfire wouldn't be all over him like this."

Starfire turned a glare on him as a note of mirth entered his voice. "Clearly, this is more of a 'New Robin.' Much like the old Robin, but good with the ladies and he knows how to put his feet up."

Beast Boy snickered. "Well, I for one welcome our New Robin overlord."

Robin's scowl turned into a glower. "Can we please go back to smacking Beast Boy?"

Starfire made a frustrated sound in the back of her throat. She slipped her hand out of Robin's (much to his disappointment, though he didn't show it) and walked around to stand between him and Beast Boy. "Boys, _please_. That is _enough_ of the teasing."

Cyborg cast her a disarming smile. "Easy, Star, we're just playing. I think a vacation's a great idea, and I'm just glad Robin's come around to it."

Raven rolled her eyes. "You probably could have expressed that without making a scene in front of half the city."

The Titans paused and took a moment to look out over the crowd of adoring fans. It was kind of surreal, actually – their own city had grown into an easy acceptance that simply took its resident heroes in stride, and while the sudden rush of attention was cool, it was also disorienting.

Beast Boy looked like he was about to throw some retort at Raven, but Robin cut in before the bickering could start anew.

"We should go out and talk to some of the people," he suggested. "I'm sure they have a lot of questions, especially considering how much the Tokyo Troopers' battles affected them."

Beast Boy shrugged. "Eh, good point." He grinned and turned his attention to the gaggle of schoolgirls focused on him. "Besides, I think I've kept my fangirls waiting long enough!"

With that, he bounded to the edge of the stage and threw himself off crowd-surfing style, morphing into a cat mid-jump. The girls went wild at the display as several rushed to catch him, and in moments he was lost in the sea of giggling faces.

Raven just stared after him. "…When did he get all those fangirls again?"

Cyborg chuckled at that, but he offered no answer. He instead rubbed his hands together and glanced back at the mountain of food that had been bequeathed to him, temporarily forgotten when the mayor had first arrived on stage.

"Speaking of keeping things waiting, I might need some help with this _generous_ gift before it spoils and goes to waste." He grinned as he added, "Hey Star, you ever try takoyaki? I'm not really a fan of octopus but I think you'd like it."

Starfire's head tilted in curiosity and she followed him to the table spread.

Robin watched them go a little uncertainly, then looked back at the wave of schoolgirls. "Not exactly what I had in mind, but I guess that works too," he said to himself.

Beside him, Raven shrugged. "Don't look at me. I don't do crowds. I'm staying right here."

Robin cast his friend a small concerned frown as she raised a hand in a half-hearted wave, but she seemed content enough, so he shrugged it off. After a moment's thought, he followed Cyborg and Starfire and ducked behind the table spread.

Starfire perked up upon spotting him. "Robin! Are you here to join us in partaking in this delectable feast?" she asked.

Robin shook his head with a slightly embarrassed smile. "I actually need to make a call before I forget, and that probably wouldn't look too good in the middle of the stage." Glancing over the food, he added, "Maybe afterwards, though."

Starfire nodded, and Robin pulled out his communicator. Leaning back against the table, he flipped it open and dialed up Kid Flash, who was currently watching over Titan's Tower with Jinx.

After a few moments, the image on the screen flickered to the grinning face of the young speedster.

"Heeey Robin, sounds like _you've_ been busy," he chirped.

Robin let out an exhausted sigh. "You have no idea."

Kid Flash blinked. "Is… that confetti in your hair?"

Robin ran a hand through his hair and came out with a bright blue scrap of paper. "Oh, yeah. The mayor's throwing us a big ceremony right now. So, it sounds like you've already heard that we took care of the Brushogun case?"

Kid Flash hesitated a beat. "…Yes. Yes that is definitely something I was aware of."

The way he said that wasn't exactly convincing, but Robin pressed on anyway. "So that means we're pretty much finished here, but I kind of just promised the team that we could stick around and turn it into a vacation. Would you guys be all right city-sitting for another week?" He flashed the other hero a wan smile as he added, "It's okay if you need to head out, I can figure something else out."

Kid Flash waved the comment away. "Come oooon, you've only been gone for three days and you wouldn't have needed us if you weren't expecting to take longer anyway." He made a show of stopping to consider something.

"Although, a vacation _does_ sound pretty good right about now. It's only been, what, a month since we had to deal with the whole Brotherhood thing?"

Robin raised an eyebrow as his friend snapped his fingers. "Tell ya what," he said, "We'll stick around for a week on one condition."

Robin shrugged. "All right, I'll see what I can do. What is it?"

Kid Flash grinned. "When you guys get back, you and Star have _got_ to go on a double date with me and Jinx."

Robin blinked and glanced over at his girlfriend, who was currently talking with Cyborg over a plate of sushi. "Uh, okay?" he ventured. "I mean, I'd have to check with her first, but I'm sure she'd be –"

All at once, the statement caught up with him. His head snapped back down to the communicator, and he stared wide-eyed at the image of his fellow hero at the other end.

"Wait a second. _How_ did you find out about that?!" he asked incredulously.

Kid Flash froze, his smile still plastered now-awkwardly on his face.

"Uhhhhhh whoops there's the alarm gotta go!"

And with that, the line went dead before Robin could grill him further.

* * *

Kid Flash snapped his communicator shut and flung it across the room, recoiling away from it in the process. A little overdramatic, perhaps, but he'd panicked.

Jinx had chosen that moment to enter – they were in the common room in Titan's Tower, and she had just returned from taking Silkie out – and she gave him a bewildered look. "The heck was _that_ about?" she asked.

Kid Flash turned to his partner, still wearing that awkward grin. "So, apparently the Titans have already finished their mission. Also, Robin doesn't know that _we_ know that he and Starfire are dating." He paused a moment. "Or at least he didn't until just now."

Jinxed cocked an eyebrow at him and set Silkie, who had started squirming in her arms, down to crawl off somewhere. "Ooookay. Good for them I guess."

Kid Flash was finally starting to relax. "Oh! By the way, how do you feel about city-sitting for another week? Or about double dates?"

Jinx leveled an even stare at him, folding her arms. "That depends. Are those two things you agreed to without running them by me first?"

Kid Flash suddenly very much wished that he was in Tokyo right now.

* * *

Some time later, Cyborg strode through the halls of the hotel with a few full bags of groceries in hand, whistling a jaunty tune. As he reached the suite he was sharing with the other Titans, he shifted his load to one arm and struggled for a moment to find his key card.

Over the years, he had come to appreciate the little advantages of his robotic enhancements. The impressive strength that allowed him to easily lug around food for five was one of the more obvious perks, but another came from the fact that his need for sleep was closely linked with his need to recharge. While the others were still feeling the effects of lingering jet lag, their late and stressful night before, and now the exhaustion that came with presenting oneself in front of thousands of people, Cyborg had managed to juice himself up enough through the early morning to keep going for the day.

This fact was only highlighted when he entered to a surprisingly quiet hotel suite. The doors to the two bedrooms, with two beds each (one set claimed by Beast Boy and Robin, the other by the girls) were closed, and Beast Boy was splayed on the couch with a manga tented over his face as he snored away.

And here the string bean had complained when the rest of the team voted to crash in the hotel rather than explore the city after their ceremony. Cyborg chuckled softly to himself as he set down the groceries and began quietly stocking the fridge and pantry.

After a few minutes, the lump on the couch shifted and groaned. "Duuude, I can smell all that fish from _here_!" Beast Boy grumbled, sitting up.

Cyborg smirked. "Keep your lid on, I've got plenty of stuff for you too."

Beast Boy yawned. "Okay, but didn't you already eat like half the food in the city? Whadda we need all that for?"

Cyborg shrugged as he stuffed the last bag of rice into the pantry. "Those leftovers won't last us all a week, and it's not like we'll be eating out every night," he explained, brushing off his hands. "I thought this would be a good time to try out some Japanese recipes." He smirked.

"More importantly, this is just what grocery shopping looks like when you're getting food for five people and not just stuffing your cart with tofu."

Beast Boy just stuck his tongue out in response, but he also stood up from the couch and stretched. That made Cyborg frown as he realized something.

"Hey, why were you sleeping on the couch anyway? It's not like your bed isn't right in the next room."

Now it was Beast Boy's turn to shrug. "Eh, Robin and Starfire borrowed the room to put on a movie."

Cyborg started at that, and his frown deepened into something suspicious as he glanced over at the door and said, "Really? Because I was here when they started that movie and that was almost three hours ago."

Beast Boy just snorted. "Yeah, no, I think they just sorta fell asleep like halfway through. Trust me dude, if there was anything else going on, I would have heard it."

Cyborg leaned over the counter of the kitchenette, his suspicious frown replaced by an amused smirk. " _Really_ now? All curled up together too, I bet. Did you get pictures?"

Beast Boy snorted again, but he mirrored his friend's smirk. "Are you kidding? I've already got Raven in a bad mood, there's no way I'm pissing off Robin too."

Cyborg was grinning now. "Not even New Robin?"

The sound of a door creaking open startled both boys out of their conversation, but it was just Raven emerging from her and Starfire's room. She had a relaxed-but-immaculate look about her that suggested she'd just finished meditating. She cast the boys one of her patented Looks.

"I'm not going to be playing babysitter all week to keep you two from bugging Robin and Starfire, am I?" she drawled.

Beast Boy put up his hands in a 'don't look at _me_ ' gesture, but Cyborg just straightened up.

"Aww, come on Raven," he wheedled. "We've been waiting _years_ for those lovebirds to get together. Can't we be happy for them?"

Raven raised an eyebrow. "Not if your version of 'being happy for them' is constantly teasing them." She made her way to the kitchenette cabinet and started rifling for a box of tea. "They're in a honeymoon period right now, and you know how sensitive Robin gets about these kinds of things. You should give them some time to settle into the relationship."

Cyborg just shrugged in concession, and the three of them lapsed into an easy silence while Raven started to brew her tea. Beast Boy grabbed his comic again and started thumbing through the pages, and Cyborg took a moment to admire the view of the city through their common room window. This part of Tokyo didn't look all too different from Jump, but with a home in the middle of the bay it was rare that he could just watch city life go by without being in the thick of it.

It wasn't long before the soft whistle of the teapot filled the room. Even less time and that was replaced with the scent of Raven's favorite herbal blend, and that was about when Beast Boy piped up again.

"Sooo…" he ventured, "What all do we actually wanna do on this trip? I mean, I'm still down for exploring, but the only thing I really knew I wanted to see was the comic book factory and I haven't figured out where they moved yet."

Cyborg turned away from the window and scratched his head in thought. "I dunno. I had some vague ideas about immersing myself in Japanese culture, but the part of culture I'm most interested in is cuisine and I've kind of already tried that."

Raven raised an eyebrow at him over her mug of tea. "You're telling me you seriously spent all our free time yesterday at that restaurant?"

Cyborg rubbed the back of his neck, heat creeping up on the human side of his face. "Wellll, I did until the chef chased me out. After that it was mostly a lot of runnin'."

Beast Boy snorted in amusement. "Still better than me," he offered. "I just followed after this pretty girl who called me cute and somehow ended up in a karaoke bar."

Cyborg smirked. "Your first fangirl?" he guessed.

Beast Boy winced. "Actually, she kinda turned out to be one of Daizo's ink minions."

The door to the other room creaked open at the same time as Raven's other eyebrow raised to join the first. After a moment's consideration, however, she shrugged.

"I guess I can't criticize you too much," she confessed. "I spent the entire day looking for a bookstore with a good English selection. I did manage to get that information on Brushogun out of it, at least."

"We should really thank you for that." The new voice drew everyone's attention to the doorway, where Robin had just come up to lean against the frame. Starfire had exited right ahead of him, and now perched herself on the arm of the couch.

"Hey, glad you could make the party!" Cyborg quipped, crossing the room to stand beside Raven in the kitchenette. "We were just sharing our stories from yesterday. You guys wandered off together, right?"

Starfire brightened. "Oh, our day was most enjoyable! We witnessed the sumo wrestling and went boating and visited an arcade and watched the sunset from atop Tokyo Tower!"

Now it was Cyborg's turn to raise an eyebrow. "…And you're telling me you didn't start dating until _after_ last night?"

Raven didn't even look up from her tea as she raised a hand and smacked him on the back of his head.

"Ow! What was that –" He turned a glare on her. "Beast Boy's right, you _are_ in a bad mood."

Raven just shrugged. "I warned you."

Beast Boy, meanwhile, was rubbing his temples. "So, hang on a moment… You're telling me that out of all five of us, only two people actually managed to experience Tokyo properly and one of them was Mr. 'This is not a vacation'?!"

Robin's expression grew sheepish at that, and he reached up to rub the back of his neck. "Well… To be fair, most of those things were Starfire's idea. If it hadn't been for her, I probably would have spent the day moping and maybe trying to figure out Brushogun right up until the second Saico-Tek got me."

Beast Boy blinked. "So you're saying Star is the _only_ person on this team who knows how to be a tourist?"

All eyes turned on their alien teammate, who simply shrugged. "In fairness, I do have significant experience in exploring new cultures," she pointed out. "I suspect it also helps to know the local language."

Cyborg nodded slowly, thinking. "Well, that settles it," he said. "Starfire, you're now the official Tokyo Vacation Planner."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If there's anywhere in Tokyo you want the Titans to check out, let me know! I've already got all the key story points and several vacation stops mapped out, but I thought it might be fun to leave some options up to the readers. I can't guarantee I'd be able to use every suggestion, but I'd definitely love to check them out!


	3. Otaku Does Not Mean Cute

"CYBOOORG!"

Well _that_ was a promising start to a new morning. Beast Boy glanced up from his comic just in time to see Cyborg flinch back from the heated gaze of their team leader. Robin was storming out of his and Beast Boy's room, open communicator in hand.

"I couldn't figure out how Kid Flash found out about me and Starfire so fast, but then I saw _this._ Did you seriously think we wouldn't find out about this?!"

Beast Boy smirked to himself and, behind the cover of his book, opened his own communicator and pulled up the chatlog. Robin and Cyborg had installed it about a month ago to 'facilitate long-term communication among the Titans Network' (at least, that's how he thought Robin had described it), and it hadn't taken long at all for the usual shenanigans associated with general chats to start cropping up.

There was some chatter for him to wade through – a good chunk of it related to his team's misadventures in the past couple days – but then he found the parts of the chat that had doubtless sparked Robin's attention.

Yesterday 2:49 AM JST

**Cyborg:** ITS HAPPENING YALL  
CODE PINK  
THEY LITERALLY JUST KISSED IN THE RAIN AND EVERYTHING I'M NOT EVEN JOKING

**Aqualad:** Wait, back up. This code pink is for Star and Robin, right?

**Bumblebee:** Wait wait wait  
Aren't you guys in Japan right now? How late is it over there?

**Speedy:** Pics or it didn't happen

**Cyborg:** Bee it is very late I'll explain later  
Yes its them and I have WITNESSES

Yesterday 3:28 AM JST

**Kid Flash:** Ha! About time  
So who won the pot?

Yesterday 3:45 AM JST

**Raven:** Cyborg, you do realize you completely neglected to put this in a private chat, right?

Beast Boy couldn't stop the corner of his lip from quirking upward at Raven's comment. It was probably his favorite part of the conversation, not least because it helped him feel better about neglecting to check in as a witness when the discussion had first happened.

Robin really didn't need to know that he had bet on those two hooking up around the start of summer.

Speaking of which, it seemed Cyborg had finally found his voice. He raised his hands in a placating gesture and said, "Heeey, man, it was all in good fun! Everyone was going to find out one way or another, and isn't this better than them seeing some news photo of you two holding hands and giving each other doe eyes?"

Robin pinched the bridge of his nose, but Beast Boy didn't miss the slight coloring of his cheeks. "They wouldn't… That's not the point!" He looked up again and waved his communicator around. "What is this about a pot? Have you all been _betting_ on us?!"

Beast Boy ducked behind his book and made a valiant show of focusing on the comic, and he swore he could feel Robin's suspicious gaze on him. Came with the territory of learning to read the guy behind a mask, he figured.

He couldn't see Cyborg anymore, but he could just imagine the sweat on the tin man's face as he tried to get out of this one.

"Uhh… Well everyone kept asking me when you two would finally get together, and I thought, you know, maybe we could turn it into a game. It's like a team-building exercise!"

Okay, Beast Boy _had_ to see Robin's reaction to that. He peeked carefully over the top of his book and was not disappointed – Robin's face had gone beet red, though he couldn't tell whether it was from anger or embarrassment. Probably a little of both.

"A _team-building exercise_? By taking _bets_ on your teammates' serious relationships?! What makes you think –"

Any further ranting was interrupted by the door to the girls' room opening and Starfire peeking her head out. She beamed when she saw Cyborg and Robin, and she flew out to greet them with her own communicator in hand.

"Cyborg!" she chirped, holding it up. "You did not tell me that Robin and I were the Code Pink you had spoken of."

Beast Boy's eyebrow shot up. There was no _way_ Star hadn't heard those two arguing from the other room.

Cyborg must have been thinking the same thing, because he was currently making an excellent dying fish impression. For his part, Robin just gaped at her.

"You _knew_ about this?" he asked.

Starfire shrugged. "Not in its entirety, but Cyborg has been teaching me much of the memes and the chat etiquette. He had spoken privately with some of the other Titans of 'Code Pink,' which he had coined to refer to the advent of inter-team romantic relations. I find such attention very sweet."

Robin frowned and looked at his communicator, then up again. "You're not mad? They had a betting pool going!"

Starfire just looked at him with those wide, innocent eyes and cocked her head. "Why should I be upset? They seem very happy for us."

Robin opened his mouth again to protest, but it seemed words had escaped him. He closed it, looked back down at his communicator again, and let out a low grunt.

Starfire smiled brightly and settled onto her feet next to him. "In any case, I was thinking that today we might show the others some of what we found the first time we explored Tokyo! Was there anything you wanted to see again?"

Robin glanced away, his cheeks coloring again as he muttered, "…The cherry blossoms are only here for a short time."

Beast Boy and Cyborg stared after them as Starfire led her thoroughly mollified boyfriend into the kitchenette, chattering about her ideas for the day all the while. Beast Boy had completely forgotten about his comic by now, and he slipped off the couch to join his best friend.

"Dude," he said in a voice too low for the others to hear, "New Robin has a weakness."

Cyborg shot him a knowing smirk. "B, _Old_ Robin had that weakness."

* * *

Kitanomaru Park provided a wondrous view of Tokyo's natural beauty, especially during the springtime. Starfire and Robin had first stumbled upon it by chance the other day and ended up renting a rowing boat on the nearby Chidorigafuchi moat, but now all five Titans staked their claim in an open lawn at the heart of the park.

A picnic lunch was set out, stocked with the last few leftovers from Cyborg's ceremony gift along with a more modest assortment of sandwiches and snacks. The team had situated themselves in standard fashion – Raven with her back against a tree and a book in her lap, Robin and Starfire seated side by side, Beast Boy crouched beside Cyborg as he regaled everyone with the story of his karaoke misadventure – and were it not for the leftovers and the soft pink petals fluttering to the ground around them, it could almost have been just another day at the local park.

Starfire leaned a little into Robin's side, and she felt his arm shift behind her as he looped it around her waist. Well, perhaps it wasn't _just_ another day.

Raven fidgeted visibly in her spot, one knee bouncing a little while she flipped her book open, paused to look over at the others, let out a low huff, and then shut it again.

Starfire's brows furrowed in concern. "Raven? Is something wrong?"

Raven rolled her eyes to herself and replied with a flat "It's nothing," but then she seemed to stop and reconsider. After a few seconds of internal debate, she sighed and stood up.

"Actually, I need to talk to Robin for a second," she announced, motioning with her head for him to follow her.

Robin raised an eyebrow. "Uh… Okay, sure." He got up as well and, brushing himself off, followed Raven a short distance away.

Starfire watched them go with mild curiosity and then went back to her meal, and Beast Boy continued his story. "So then this _other_ girl tries to drag me away from the crowd so she can have me all to herself, but the rest of the girls aren't having it and she doesn't speak English anyway so I couldn't really talk to her even if we _did_ go out."

Cyborg smirked. "You sure that wasn't just the cat girl trying to get you alone so she could kick your butt early?"

Beast Boy stuck out his tongue. "Nah, totally different girl." He puffed up his chest and jabbed a thumb at himself. "I'm just that attractive to the ladies around here. I am _otaku_ , after all."

Starfire froze halfway through biting into her sandwich. The language center in her brain had quite helpfully provided her with the meaning to the Japanese word her friend had just used, and she rolled it over for a moment to try and pick out some hidden nuance he somehow knew that she didn't.

It was a valiant effort, but alas a fruitless one.

"Please," she asked when she finished her bite, "Why does your being a geek attract the women of Tokyo?"

Now it was Beast Boy's turn to freeze. "Wait, what?"

Starfire cocked her head. "You said 'otaku,' correct? I believe the closest English translation would be 'geek' or something similar." Her brows furrowed. "Forgive me, is there a hidden meaning I am unaware of?"

Beast Boy just sat there with his mouth open for a moment, and then dissolved into indignant sputtering. Meanwhile, Cyborg burst into raucous laughter.

"What's so funny?" Robin asked, and Starfire looked over to find him and Raven making their way back to the group.

Cyborg swallowed his laughter and smirked. "BB's just been confusing an accurate assessment of his personality with flirting." He snickered again.

Beast Boy crossed his arms and pouted. "Hey, they were _still_ flirting with me. Nerdy's the new cool anyway." He let out a small huff and grumbled, "You're just jealous 'cause I got all the fangirls."

After a moment, his eyes went to something behind her. He perked up at the sight. A wide, teasing grin split his face as he added, "But not all the fan _boys_. Looks like somebody's got an admirer."

Cyborg fell into another fit of laughter, and Robin shifted uncomfortably as he sat back down and looked away. Starfire turned around.

It was the boy from whom she had… _learned_ Japanese the other night. He was standing several feet back, smiling very awkwardly at her and holding a small bouquet of flowers in one hand.

Oh. Oh dear.

Starfire scrambled to her feet and walked over to him, fighting down a furious blush that he would most certainly take the wrong way. " _Ko-kon'nichiwa_ ," she stammered.

The boy's smile brightened. " _Kon'nichiwa_." He broke eye contact for a moment. "Um… I am very happy I was able to find you."

Behind her, Robin made a strangled sound. Starfire dutifully ignored it, her pasted-on smile never wavering.

"Oh… Yes," she replied with a small incline of her head. "You were very helpful the other night. Thank you again. _Arigato_."

The boy cleared his throat. "You're welcome. That was a very, um, nice kiss."

Now, Starfire was a proponent for being open with your thoughts and emotions. It was a key component to Tamaranean culture, and in any case, she placed a high value on honesty. She could slip at times, mostly when she didn't want to bother others with her own worries, but that never went very far because she was a _terrible_ liar.

However, she was also a proponent for tact and gentle approaches to strangers. And, well, she wasn't sure there _was_ a gentle way to say, 'Oh, I just needed to learn your language and also I used it as a segue into finally getting together with the guy sitting behind me.'

So, she cheated a little.

"Please… What is this 'kiss' of which you speak?"

The boy's smile faltered. "What? But when you… and…" He broke off into sputtering, gesturing back and forth between her and his mouth.

Starfire blinked. "Oh, that!" She frowned. "I fear there may have been some form of cultural misunderstanding. On my planet, lip contact is used to learn new languages."

The boy visibly deflated at that. "Lip… Oh."

_Gorsnak_ , there was no easy way to do this. She placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Those are lovely flowers, but it would be unfair of me to accept them. You should bring them to a friend."

The boy nodded, and with a few mumbled pleasantries and a " _Sayonara_ ," he headed off. Once he had disappeared past the trees, Starfire let out a breath she hadn't known she'd been holding and turned back to her friends.

Cyborg had a hand clamped over his mouth and was shaking with barely-silenced laughter. A large green lizard practically rolled around on his shoulder, its bursts of odd hissing indicating that Beast Boy was doing the same. She was about to tell them off when Robin, his face buried in his hands, spoke up.

" _He knew English the whole time!_ "

Starfire knelt next to where he sat hunched over, Raven stoically patting him on the back. "We were going to need a translator anyway," the latter pointed out.

" _I didn't need to know that!_ "

Starfire winced and placed another comforting hand on his shoulder. At about the same time, Cyborg finally swallowed the rest of his mirth.

"So," he ventured with a smirk, "I take it this means you and that kid _don't_ have a hot date?"

He was gently discouraged from further commentary by the rest of her sandwich hitting him in the face.

* * *

"This really doesn't feel like we're making the most out of our vacation."

Raven stood by the wall not far from the entrance of the arcade, her arms folded in protest. When the team finished up their time at Kitanomaru Park, she had tried suggesting they visit one of the museums in the area. It had seemed like a perfectly reasonable idea to her – they had science, arts, even _martial_ arts, surely something everyone would like – but then Beast Boy had declared it "catchup day" and insisted they go to the arcade Starfire had found the other day instead.

Long story short, Raven was outvoted.

The instigator of this gross breach of sensibility was approaching her now, and he only paused a moment when she turned her judgmental glare on him. He waved her comment away with a scoff.

"Come on Raven, the whole point of a vacation is to chill out and have some fun. This is _exactly_ how we make the most out of it!"

Raven rolled her eyes. "We have arcades at home. We'd be better off taking advantage of the natural beauty and culture that Japan has to offer than hanging around playing video games."

Beast Boy smirked. "Video games _are_ a part of Japanese culture."

Raven opened her mouth to retort, but then she realized that he actually kind of had a point. She sighed and took another look around the arcade.

It wasn't hard to spot the others. Starfire had taken a break from dominating all the physically active games to watch Robin and Cyborg compete in some racing game. Raven could hear their trash talk from where she was standing, and all three had by now attracted several onlookers and admirers. She noticed, too, that a few fans were starting to look her way even as she tried to blend into the shadows.

Raven sighed. As much as she hated to admit it, Beast Boy had another point: she was supposed to be enjoying herself, not grumping around whenever the others picked something she didn't want to do. She had been on edge since the beginning of the trip – first from jet-lag and a general lack of sleep, and then because Robin had subconsciously decided that opening up and becoming this "New Robin" the boys kept going on about meant dropping his mental shields outright and leaving her open to a barrage of raw emotion.

But now she had gotten some rest and talked to Robin about the shield thing, so maybe it was time to lighten up. Not that she'd admit that train of thought to Beast Boy.

And for good reason, considering that even now he walked up and casually slung an arm over her shoulders. Ignoring her warning glare, he said, "Come ooon, we've got all week and those museums aren't far from the hotel. We're here now, and I've got the perfect game to get you out of your funk!"

Raven raised an eyebrow, but she let him drag her off anyway. When they reached the arcade cabinet he was looking for, though, she wished she hadn't.

"…That's a fighting game."

Beast Boy rubbed his hands together. "Yup!"

"With _us_ as the fighters."

"Along with some of the world's other greatest superheroes. Isn't it awesome?!" He grinned. "Come on Raven, you know you wanna kick my butt in the virtual wooorld."

That did sound oddly appealing, she had to admit. With an exaggerated sigh of defeat, she joined in on the game and went to select her character.

Beast Boy crowed triumphantly and pumped his fist, but he did a double take when their chosen fighters got ready to square off.

"Dude, why aren't you playing as yourself?"

Raven shrugged. "I already know my own skillset, and I'll probably just get distracted by how the programmers inevitably got it wrong while making it work for a fighting game." She allowed herself a small smile. "Besides, I've always admired the sheer willpower mastered by the Green Lantern Corp."

Beast Boy grinned again, with an air of challenge this time. "Yeah, well _I've_ always wanted to kick a space marine's butt!"

"First, they're not 'space marines,' and second, since when?"

"GAME ON!" And with that, he slammed a hand on the button to start the match.

Raven scrambled to her controls, but it wasn't enough. Her opponent had too much experience with these games, and it didn't take long for his in-game self to back her poor Lantern into a corner. Virtual Beast Boy switched back and forth among his handful of animal forms far faster than would be practical in real life, but he was somehow making it work.

In a shamefully short time, Raven had lost the match. Beast Boy cackled and pumped both fists in a victory dance.

"Haha, yes! Ready for round two?"

Raven blinked. "What do you mean, round –"

But the game had already started the match off, and she found herself stumbling to gain some semblance of control for the second time. She focused on blocking this time, which helped a little. At least, it didn't take quite as long for Beast Boy's fighter to whittle down her health.

Beast Boy was bouncing on the balls of his feet as Raven's virtual Green Lantern lay defeated on the arena floor. "Aaaand that's two out of three! I win the match! Wanna go again?" He waggled his eyebrows teasingly. "Or are you too scared that I'll just keep beating you?"

Raven's eyes narrowed. His goading was painfully obvious, and normally she would ignore his challenge and go find something better to do. But she was stuck in the arcade anyway, and she thought she might have just picked up on a weak point in his strategy…

More credits went into the machine. They picked the same fighters as before. Beast Boy won again, but that was fine – Raven had focused more on the way he played than trying to beat him this go around, and she'd found exactly what she suspected.

The kid was a button masher. She wasn't surprised, considering his impulsive nature. He still knew all the special button combinations, and the speed with which he struck still made him a dangerous opponent, but a bit of proper strategy could give her just the edge she needed.

The next round lasted longer than any previous, and while Raven didn't quite win in the end, she did manage to get the hang of a few standard button combos. She fought to keep a smirk off her face. _Perfect_.

Beast Boy made a show of stretching as the arcade machine tried to entice them into spending more credits. "You played a good game, but I'm pretty sure we both know who the champion here is," he said with a smug grin. "I won't blame you if you want to call it quits now."

Raven shrugged with feigned indifference. "I guess that's fair. You must be used to hearing that from Cyborg, after all."

Beast Boy blinked a couple of times. "Was that _trash talk_ I just heard from you, Raven?" He cast her a wicked grin. "Oh-ho-ho, it is _on_!"

They booted up the machine again, but this time Raven took a few moments to peruse her selection of fighters. Beast Boy gave her a curious look, and his eyes widened a fraction when she made her choice.

"Starfire, huh? You know I've already beaten her in real life, right?"

Now Raven did smirk. "Does your game character have a form that's too small to shoot?"

The game started before he could respond, and both contestants took to their controls. Raven's strategy was deceptively simple – hang back as far as she could and use whatever button combinations let her starbolt him from range. She had some difficulty, between the fact that she hadn't tried Starfire's moveset until now and a rushing cheetah attack Beast Boy had that made staying away difficult. But he rarely thought to block, and as they whittled each other's health down she pressed her advantage.

Finally, _finally_ , virtual Beast Boy went down and stayed down. His real-life counterpart growled softly in the back of his throat, but they only got a moment's respite before the second round started. He seemed to pay a little more attention this round, using the cheetah strike more and then spinning off into a hard-shelled tortoise whenever he caught the starbolts going off. Raven bit her lip in concentration.

That round went back to Beast Boy, but only just. Raven let out a low huff as the game announced the tie-breaker round.

As soon as the bell rang, she swooped in with a heavy punch. She then pulled back and blasted Beast Boy's avatar before he could recover. The corner of her lip quirked. Getting to use a more physical fighting style, even if it was just a simulation on a screen, was oddly satisfying.

"This looks kinda narcissistic."

As one, both Titans jumped and whirled around to find Cyborg smirking at them. Starfire and Robin were there too, watching the game with clear interest.

"Dudes!" Beast Boy shrieked. "How long have you been standing there?"

Robin shrugged. "Only about a minute. How'd you convince Raven to play with you, anyway?"

Raven felt the heat rise to her face at that comment. She realized then that they had drawn quite the crowd while she was absorbed in the game, and with a low grumble she drew up her hood to hide some of the red in her cheeks.

Beast Boy smirked. "That's my little secret," he replied, before promptly turning back to the game.

Raven let out an indignant shout and went back into the battle before he could take advantage of their temporary distraction. As she played, she tried desperately to ignore the commentary from behind them.

"I do not believe Raven is engaging in the narcissism. Truly, I find it flattering that she chose to battle using my persona."

"You look like a pretty good pick, actually. But if it were me, I'd wanna to go _all_ out. Hey, think I could challenge the winner? I call dibs on Superman."

"I cannot say who I would choose. Perhaps one of our friends from the Titans East?"

"Yeah, I could see you rocking it as Bumblebee. Hey Robin, you think you'd play Batman?"

"Not a chance. I'd rather go for something a little different, anyway. Negative Man might be interesting."

Despite the distractions, Raven managed to keep just ahead of the game. Finally, one last well-placed eyebeam knocked Beast Boy's character out in typical melodramatic video game fashion.

The other Titans – and half the arcade – erupted into cheers, causing Raven to jolt and blush again. "Is that really necessary?" she groused.

Beast Boy pouted for a moment, but then he perked up again. "Hey, you learn fast," he said. "You believe now that I can pick a good vacation activity?"

Raven raised an eyebrow. "I still think the museums would have made more sense." She hesitated a moment, and then shrugged in concession. "But I guess we could always visit them another day."

Beast Boy cackled and did another little victory dance. "Coming from you, that is definitely a win! Okay, okay, once we're done here, I know _exactly_ where to end off the night!"

The rest of the Titans exchanged curious glances. Cyborg folded his arms and asked, "Okay, where's that?"

Beast Boy beckoned the others closer. "Okay, so we've all agreed it's catchup day –"

"Some more than others," Raven cut in.

"– but Star and Robin aren't the only ones who found some cool stuff after we all split up. And we know Raven was just book shopping and Cyborg probably can't go back to that restaurant, but I happened to find something we can all enjoy."

Raven winced as she figured out where he was going with this. "You are _not_ suggesting we try –"


	4. The Celebrity Treatment

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, you know how the first song to play alongside the Trouble in Tokyo credits is all of the Titans singing a rough English translation of their own Japanese theme song? Well, that song may or may not have been one of the primary inspirations for this fanfiction, and the first scene of this chapter was one of the very first bits I came up with. For the full experience, I recommend pulling up that song (it can be found on Youtube) and playing it at the appropriate time. Don't worry, you'll know what that time is when you see it.

"Karaoke."

Raven said that with the same tone of grudging acceptance that she'd been using ever since the Titans left the arcade. Now they clustered around the entrance to a building whose purpose was proudly displayed in image form on its front window, which was nice because Starfire was still the only one who could read anything around here.

Of course, the slightly off-key singing drifting from inside and the eager faces pressed against the window as their owners whispered presumably about Beast Boy gave off a couple of hints anyway.

Beast Boy himself whirled around to face his comrades. "This place is awesome! I didn't get to hear a lot of the music, but there must be a good selection because they've got, like, this weird version of our theme song!"

That got everyone's attention. They'd heard of their "theme song," of course – something someone back home had made up after overhearing the ringtone of the team's communicators. It was over-the-top and corny in the best way, and it had spread through the Internet community like wildfire.

Robin was the first to speak up. "When you say, 'weird version,' what exactly does that…?"

Beast Boy cracked a knowing smile. "I think you'll find out."

Raven folded her arms. "Just don't expect me to sing anything."

Cyborg chuckled to himself. He didn't know what had Raven so annoyed… Okay, that wasn't true. The nosy crowds and iffy singing would put anyone of her disposition on edge. But if she was _really_ bothered by it, she wouldn't have come here.

For his part, Cyborg was pumped. He wasn't sure how he would feel if somebody got swarmed by fangirls like BB had said, but they were already out in the open and nothing crazy had happened yet. Overall, this place sounded like a great way to chill out and cut loose.

In short order, Beast Boy ushered the team inside. In even shorter order, a karaoke DJ rounded them up and practically pushed them onto the stage.

Cyborg blinked. "They don't waste time here, do they?"

The DJ got behind his machine, and after a few moments a familiar tune started up. Most of the Titans froze.

Beast Boy cackled. "Yes, group song! Okay! I'll start off and then pass the mic to Robin, and we'll keep passing it down the line. Ready?"

Raven's eyes widened. "Don't you _dare_ –"

Beast Boy grabbed the mic and started singing.

* * *

"GOOD NIGHT TOKYO!"

Beast Boy belted that phrase with as much enthusiasm as he'd ever done anything, which was not inconsiderable. It seemed to Cyborg that he had been preparing for this moment. He held both hands, one still grasping the microphone, aloft, and looked for all the world like he was literally basking in the attention of the bargoers.

All this was observed in the span of about half a second. In the other half, the aforementioned bargoers swarmed the stage – and its occupants.

Cyborg barely got a chance to react before he was surrounded. He wasn't tackled, by some miracle – it seemed having the whole team here meant their fans had a _little_ restraint – but young men and women alike crowded around him and bombarded him with so many questions and comments that he couldn't even tell if any of them were in a language he knew.

It was only because Raven was right by his side that he heard her single muttered, "Nope." A tiny ethereal breeze buffeted his armor as she phased right out of the building.

_Traitor_.

"Uhh…" Cyborg didn't have anything else to say, so he instead looked over the heads of the screaming masses to see how the others were doing.

Starfire had lifted a few inches off the ground to give herself some breathing room and was now trying her best to take in everyone's questions at once. She caught his eye and offered him a wan smile. Robin stuck close to her side, one arm raised as if to try and stem the tide of overenthusiastic fans.

Beast Boy, meanwhile, was clearly loving the attention. He had one arm slung over each of two different girls' shoulders and was chattering excitedly through the din.

"Cyborg-san!" The sound of his name drew Cyborg's attention back to his section of the crowd, where a girl perhaps a few years younger than him was holding up a newspaper clipping with the team's photo.

"Will you sign my picture?"

Cyborg smiled. This at least he could do. "Sure thing, little lady," he said, taking the girl's proffered pen.

"Mr. Cyborg!" a boy shouted before he could finish. "Can you show us your arm cannon?"

Cyborg smiled a little awkwardly. "Uhh, maybe if it gets a little less crowded?"

"Cyborg-san!"

"Mr. Robin, you're an inspiration!"

" _Ohime-sama_!"

"Marry me, Beast Boy!"

Somebody managed to shout something over the crowd, and everyone cheered. That one was in Japanese, so Cyborg and the others looked to Starfire for translation.

She blinked. "Um, they wish to purchase us a round of alcoholic beverages?"

Beast Boy cackled. "No way! I've never been bought a drink before!"

Robin grimaced. "That's because we're all underage… I think." A note of help-I'm-losing-control-of-the-situation panic entered his voice as he added, "Anyone know what the drinking age is here?"

Cyborg could see it now. All the fans who could manage it getting in on the drinks, whether the Titans were legal or not. Beast Boy, drunk off his ass and showing off in a way that would inevitably get himself hurt. Robin making such a fool of himself that even Cyborg and B found it more second-hand embarrassing than funny. He honestly wasn't sure whether he or Star even _could_ get drunk, but if one of them did it was even odds that something ended up exploding.

In a desperate attempt to salvage the situation, he cleared his throat and called out to the crowd. "Hey, everyone! Y'all are really welcoming and all, but we just want a chance to hang out and that's a little hard with all this attention, y'know?"

Several bargoers paused at that and turned to mutter with one another, and a few of them got the hint and started backing off. Starfire caught on as well, and she began translating for those who didn't know English.

Cyborg went on, not entirely sure where he was going with this but satisfied that it seemed to be working. "Now I know some of you fine folks were thinking of treating us, but unfortunately we do have a reputation to keep. Besides," he added with an encouraging smile, "We'll need to clear the stage if we want to hear everyone's performances, won't we?"

That last comment, he realized belatedly, might have been a mistake. A series of excited squeals and screams arose before Starfire could finish translating, and within moments the fans were dragging him through the bar in search of a free table.

"Uhh…" Cyborg looked back to see if the others were still with him. Starfire had somehow managed to keep herself in the air, so it was easy enough to confirm that she was still with him. He thought he also caught a few desperate spikes of black and green hair, but in this crowd, he wasn't quite sure they were the ones he knew.

A startled yelp and a light knock against his chest brought his attention back ahead. It seemed a poor server had been caught up in the madness and spilled one of the drinks he was carrying.

…Well, he would take his excuses where he could get them. After assuring the server that he was fine and the drink would wash right off, he extracted himself from the throng and went to the bathroom to do just that. It was a welcome respite from whatever had just happened out in the bar.

So welcome, in fact, that it didn't take long for him to start scrutinizing himself in the mirror and working to buff his armor. He leaned over the counter, turning this way and that as he squinted and searched out any imperfections. Had to look good if the fans were watching him, he told himself.

Presently, an equal parts awed and baffled patron appeared in the mirror's reflection. Cyborg turned toward him.

"What? You never seen a guy trying to hide from his problems before?"

The young man squeaked and ran out the door, and Cyborg let out a low sigh. That was probably his cue to wrap up and face the outside world. Gingerly, he eased the bathroom door open and peered out into the bar.

By some miracle, everything had calmed down – there was even a new singer on stage. It didn't take him long to spot his friends' table; every table around it was filled, and though the other patrons were keeping their distance, he could see several of them glancing back periodically at where Beast Boy and Raven sat. Robin and Starfire were absent, but five drinks ( _non_ -alcoholic, he hoped) were set out and Beast Boy was thumbing through some sort of binder.

Cyborg shot Raven a pointed look as he made his way over. "And where were you when we were getting mobbed by all those fans?"

Raven took a long sip of her water. " _Not_ getting mobbed by fans," she replied simply.

Well… he couldn't argue with that logic. Not when he'd spent the past ten minutes hiding in the bathroom, at least. He took a seat next to Beast Boy and claimed a drink that turned out to be soda.

"Where'd Robin and Star go?" he asked, gesturing toward the two unclaimed glasses. "Doesn't look like they're ditching."

Beast Boy looked up from his binder, which Cyborg could now see was opened to the establishment's modest selection of American pop music. "They've gone up to make their choices already, and I think Robin's looking into getting us a private room."

Cyborg snorted. "After our _last_ musical number? I think I'll wait for the private room before I try singing again." With a teasing smirk he added, "Normally I'd say anyone who does otherwise is braver than me, but in your case, I think it's just thirst for attention."

Raven perked up. "That reminds me. Cyborg, I believe I have a reward to claim."

Cyborg frowned. "For what?"

Raven paused to look over at the karaoke DJ's booth, where Robin and Starfire still lingered. Satisfied, she returned her attention forward and rested her chin over steepled fingers.

"The betting pool. I predicted that Starfire and Robin would become a couple before we got back from Tokyo, and I doubt anyone was more specific than that."

Cyborg nodded in understanding, but before he could speak, the loud _thump_ of the music binder hitting the table interrupted him.

"Dude, since when were you part of the pot?!" Beast Boy shrieked. "You said it was stupid!"

Raven waved for him to keep his voice down. "It was. But they were projecting all over the place while we were flying here, and after _you_ woke me up from my nap, I needed something to keep occupied."

Beast Boy sputtered. "You could _sense_ that one of them was gonna make a move? That's totally cheating!" he hissed.

Cyborg snorted. "Says Mr. 'I'm gonna win 'cause I can totally smell hormones.'"

"Why does Beast Boy want to smell hormones?"

Cyborg nearly jumped out of his seat at the sound of Robin's voice. He whirled around to see him and Starfire approaching the table and pasted on a too-wide smile.

"No reason!" he and Beast Boy chorused. Robin started at the reaction, blinking noticeably even behind his mask.

Cyborg was pretty sure he _heard_ Raven's palm meeting her face.

"O…kay then," Robin said. He took a seat. "So, you think you're going to try singing anything else?"

Cyborg shrugged. "Not in this crowd. It's like I was saying earlier –"

"Do you guys hear that?" Beast Boy interrupted, sitting up suddenly as his ears pricked.

The other Titans went quiet and strained to listen. There was nothing beyond the usual din of the bar – to Cyborg's ears, at least.

Beast Boy frowned, though, and turned toward the entrance. "I think it's coming from outside."

No sooner had he said that than the door burst open and several panicked-looking civilians ran in. The sounds of shouting and something suspiciously like mad cackling followed them, before the door shut and muffled the sound.

There was a beat as everyone shared a look. Cyborg grimaced.

"That… probably isn't a good sign."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, confession time: this chapter would have been up a good week or two ago, but I got nervous when some commenters got excited for the karaoke scene since this technically doesn't actually "show" any of the Titans singing. I've never really been fond of bits in fics where characters are just singing something, because to me a lot of the musical effect is lost if you're just reading it, so I wanted to have the actual song speak for itself and focus the writing on what was happening "around" it. I hope I was still able to satisfy everyone's musical-shenanigans expectations with that method!
> 
> Also wanted to give a quick thank-you to tontheoffbalance over on fanfiction.net for reminding me that private rooms in karaoke bars are a thing and for making some nice recommendations on reference material for possible Japanese tourist destinations.


	5. A Hero's Work is Never Done

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, this took longer to write than I was expecting. Sorry for the long wait, everyone! For those of you who don't know, I like to write these chapters in batches of around 3-4 at a time, so the first set of chapters had already been drafted when I published the prologue and it didn't take much longer to polish them and get them up as well. Unfortunately, I ran into a few difficulties figuring out some of the details in this second batch, which delayed me quite a bit. The good news is that this writing process means I've already got the next few chapters close to ready, plus I've already started on batch three and really don't anticipate it taking nearly as long to draft. Thank you for your patience, and enjoy!
> 
> A quick side note: This chapter has a handful of lines in Japanese, a language which I neither know nor could find anyone else who knows. I tried my best to make sure the translation software got what was hopefully the right words and grammar, but if you do happen to be familiar with the language and want to correct any shoddy translation and/or transliteration, feel free to let me know in a comment.

It took only a few moments for the Titans to maneuver through the crowd and out the door. A quick survey of the situation confirmed their suspicions: there was a small bank across the street, and it was about to be robbed.

" _Min'na Yōkai no namae o osoreru!_ " the villain shouted between bouts of cruel laughter. His raised hands had a faint glow to them, and swarms of stinging insects filled the air and chased screaming civilians into whatever shelter they could find.

Raven had a shield up in a second, expanding out from the doorway to envelope the team and all civilians in their vicinity. Starfire flared her starbolts and lifted a foot off the ground, scrutinizing the man as well as she could from behind the barrier.

This "Yōkai," as he had called himself, was dressed plainly enough. His supervillain suit was mostly white, as she recalled from the split second before the dark shield went up, but in a way its simplicity only accentuated the three fox tails waving behind him and the pair of horns protruding from his forehead. He hadn't noticed the Titans yet, his focus on the hastily sealed doors of the bank as he lowered one hand to try and shove his way in.

"Okay team," Robin said, a hand on his utility belt. "We might be able to surprise him, but first we need a way to deal with these bugs. Raven, is there any way you can get us to him without exposing us?

But Raven was frowning thoughtfully. "I… don't think I have to. They aren't making _any_ kind of impact on my barrier."

"…And they haven't actually stung anyone either," Robin realized aloud. "Could they be illusions?"

Starfire frowned and looked around. Sure enough, for all that the insects harried and chased civilians, there were no signs that anyone had been harmed. She turned her attention to the barrier, just in time to see a small swarm of them stumble mindlessly into it. Upon contact, they vanished.

"They are," she reported. "Or at least they cannot touch anything."

Beast Boy grinned and cracked his knuckles. "Then that means Foxboy's got nothin' on us!"

The Titans all shared a look. Robin held back on the battle cry, instead simply nodding toward Raven. She dropped her hands and the shield disappeared.

Starfire was the first to act. She zipped forward and popped off a few warning shots at Yōkai's feet, startling him back only a moment after he'd forced a door open. This put his attention squarely on her, away from both his intended victims and her teammates preparing their own strikes.

" _Yamare!_ " she snarled as a warning.

Yōkai's eyes widened as soon as they fell on her, and he dropped the illusion of the swarm.

" _Karera wa mada koko ni iru!_ "

Starfire blinked. She hadn't expected to be _that_ intimidating. Yōkai started to back up, eyes darting wildly from her to the other Titans.

And then he turned and ran.

Beast Boy was on him in a moment, pinning the villain down in lion form.

"It'll be easier for you if you come quietly," Robin warned, walking up to them. But then he hesitated and glanced at Starfire uncertainly.

"Uhh, you might need to translate that."

Starfire nodded, but before she could say anything, Yōkai flicked one glowing hand. The image of a shrieking ghost appeared out of nowhere and swooped down at Beast Boy, who instinctively jumped back with a distressed growl.

Yōkai seized his chance to push out from under the startled lion, stood up, and twisted around as he waved another hand. A brilliant light flashed before all the Titans, briefly blinding them.

" _Watashi wa koko kara denakereba narimasen_ ," Starfire heard him mutter as she shook the spots out of her eyes.

Cyborg was the first back up, running at the villain with Beast Boy following close behind as a bat. Yōkai spun as he ran and pushed at seemingly nothing, but a moment later Cyborg was thrown back by a scooter that came into view the moment it slammed into him.

Robin slid to a stop from his own chase. "Careful!" he called out to the others. "We don't know what else he camouflaged while we couldn't see."

Beast Boy let out a high-pitched squeal and continued, dodging around invisible barriers with echolocation. Starfire and Raven, meanwhile, rose higher in the air and took direct aim at the fleeing villain.

With a wave of Raven's hand, tendrils of dark energy rose from the ground and clawed at Yōkai's suit. Starfire shot off an eyebeam at the same moment, aiming to knock enough wind out of him that he'd be easily restrained.

Both attacks sailed right through him. The villain didn't even flinch, but he did look back with a taunting grin.

Starfire growled. Another trick! They'd lost sight of the real Yōkai, and only Beast Boy had any hope of catching up now.

No sooner had she thought that than a massive shockwave suddenly washed over the street below. Starfire flinched back and covered her ears at the sound, and from the corners of her vision she could see most of her teammates doing the same. Several car alarms went off, and Beast Boy, the closest to the blast, was flung back.

"What was that?!" Raven snapped, her voice muffled under the ringing in everyone's ears.

In the new chaos, several large objects sparked back into view. So did the real Yōkai, now missing both horns and tails and sprawled out groaning on the ground.

Beast Boy shifted back to human form and staggered to a standing position. He walked up to the prone villain and nudged him with a shoe.

"Weak! Foxboy even made up the cool tails."

"Ha HA!" a new voice filtered in through the haze of sound. "I told you the shockwave would work, brother!"

Starfire alighted on the street, stumbling a little and shaking her head in an effort to will her hearing back. She looked down the street to find none other than Thunder and Lightning peering around the corner, a proud grin on the former's face.

"Thunder?!" Robin asked incredulously. "Not that we're not grateful, but what are you guys doing here?"

Lightning shrugged. "Oh, just here on a little homecoming visit."

From off to the side, Yōkai stirred and muttered something unintelligible. Lightning turned to him, eyes narrowed, and snapped, " _Nē! Soko ni ite!_ "

Cyborg blinked and rubbed the back of his head. "So, wait… Y'all are _from_ here?"

The two brothers shared an uncertain look. "It is… complicated," Thunder hedged.

Lightning perked up. "We saw you all the other night! You were fighting that giant ink monster, but there was so much going on that we did not have time to help without risking injury to one of you. We were able to help with cleanup, though," he said, clapping his brother on the shoulder while Thunder nodded in affirmation.

…Huh. That made a bizarre amount of sense. Starfire shared a look with her team, and from their expressions they seemed to be coming to the same conclusions she had.

"You mean that storm was your doing," Raven said, giving voice to their thoughts. She crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow. "You know, it would have made things easier if you hadn't saved that until after the fight."

Lightning frowned and cocked his head. "Why is that?"

Beast Boy shook his head and waved the comment off. "Doesn't matter! What's important is, the bad guys are beat (even if I totally had that guy under control), you're here now, and this vacation just got better!" He accentuated that last point with a couple playful punches to the newcomers' shoulders.

With a small cackle, he added, "Speaking of, how do you guys feel about karaoke? I bet you'd make a rocking duet, and since you actually know Japanese, you'll have a lot more options than most of us!"

Robin glanced up from where he'd gone to watch over Yōkai. "Hold on, Beast Boy, we've still got to turn _him_ in," he said, gesturing to the downed villain.

Beast Boy waved the comment away. "I mean after that. We've still got time before we turn in for the night! And it's not like he's gonna give us any trouble – that guy was _totally_ scared of us!"

Starfire frowned and stepped forward to interject. "Beast Boy is right. He was terrified when he realized we were here."

That drew everyone's attention. She turned her gaze to Yōkai and considered his earlier words. "Yōkai – that is what he called himself – had not realized we were still in Tokyo. He sounded exceptionally eager to get away once he saw us."

All eyes dropped to the man in question, who flinched back from their stares and whimpered, " _Watashi o kizutsukenaide kudasai_."

"The Tokyo Troopers were legendary here," Robin said, frowning thoughtfully as he started to make the connection. "Even though Daizo created his criminals, he made them dangerous enough that taking them out made his group look practically unstoppable. But then _we_ beat them."

Cyborg folded his arms. "So now all the criminals that were afraid of Daizo are afraid of us instead."

Robin nodded absently, staring off into the distance with a somewhat pinched look on his face. "It also means that any would-be supervillains that were held back by the Tokyo Troopers' reputation will be making their moves as soon as they think we're gone. Yōkai might not have even been the first one, and he definitely won't be the last."

Starfire really didn't like way his train of thought was going. She took a tentative step forward. "Robin, if you are going to find some way to blame yourself for this…"

But Robin was already shaking his head. "It's not that," he said with a low sigh. "Law enforcement will have enough on their plates figuring out how many criminals were Daizo's doing and reorganizing themselves without his troopers. We should expect to help out with more of these situations while we're here."

Something in his tone made her suspect he was still internalizing some of this, but it was hard to ignore his point. She stepped toward him, searching out something encouraging to say, but Thunder beat her to it.

"We can take care of any supervillains," he offered. "You should enjoy your vacation."

Robin frowned. "I can't ask you to do that…"

Lightning waved him off before he could continue. He and his brother were sporting massive grins now, and Lightning practically vibrated in place. "Nonsense! My brother and I rarely get to, how do you say, 'see any action.' This will be a splendid way to show our family what we can do!"

Robin rubbed the back of his head. "Well, if you're sure…"

The two brothers nodded, and Beast Boy cackled and raised a hand for a high five. Starfire stole one last glance at her team leader, but he seemed satisfied enough for the time being. The matter settled, she allowed herself a small smile and walked forward to join in her enthusiastic teammates' plans for the evening.

* * *

In Beast Boy's humble opinion, any morning in which he wasn't dragged out of bed by alarms or early morning training was a good one. He could just chill, sleep as late as he saw fit, and by the time he was ready to emerge into the world, most of his teammates were already up and ready to hang out.

This was shaping up to be a good morning. He stretched and rolled over beneath the covers, all while keeping his eyes shut to stave off the wakeful beckoning of the morning rays for just a few minutes longer. Bunching the sheets up against his face, he noted hazily that they smelled recently washed. When had that happened?

A sound that his sleep-addled brain couldn't quite place drew his attention, and he rolled over again and cracked an eye open. The first thing to register was a shadowed figure sitting by the window.

"WaaAH! Intruder!" he yelped, attempting to jump up. He only succeeded in getting tangled in the sheets and flopping over and out of the bed.

Robin leaped up from where he sat. "What?! Where?"

Beast Boy paused a moment to blink a few times. Right. Tokyo. Vacation. He groaned, sat up, and started extricating himself from the blankets.

"Uggh, sorry dude, you scared me. Heh, guess I'm not used to having a roommate."

Robin's posture relaxed, and he sat back on the windowsill and regarded Beast Boy with bemusement. "I'm a little surprised you aren't used to waking up in strange places after the Brotherhood mission."

Beast Boy morphed into a cat and hopped back up on his bed to stretch. When he shifted back, he rolled his shoulders and said, "Yeah, but I had to keep _working_ on that mission. Here we can just chill and turn our brains off for a while."

There was no response, and he looked over to see Robin staring out the window, a tiny frown on his face as he watched the city below. He frowned as well.

"Dude, are you _brooding_ this early in the morning? On _vacation_?!"

Robin glanced back at him. "Hmm?"

Beast Boy rolled his eyes and walked up to the window. "Okay, I see what this is about. You're still mad that Thunder and Lightning beat you in the duet contest last night, aren't you?"

Robin just stared at him for a moment. "…I'm not even gonna dignify that with a response."

Beast Boy nodded sharply to himself. "Yup, definitely jealous about the duet contest."

He swore he could feel Robin's eyes roll behind the mask. "Beast Boy, karaoke has _nothing_ to do with what's upsetting me."

"So, you admit something's bothering you, then."

Robin opened his mouth to retort, and then snapped it shut. He cast Beast Boy a half-hearted glare and was met with only a cocky grin.

It wasn't often that Beast Boy could use his powers of annoyance for good, but it was so satisfying when he managed to pull it off.

Finally, Robin let out a low sigh. "Look, it's… it's really nothing to worry about."

The grin vanished. Beast Boy crossed his arms and said, "Okay, if you're playing that game then I'm gonna go grab Starfire for an intervention."

He started to push off the wall, but a low sigh stopped him. "No, you don't have to do that," Robin said wearily, drumming his fingers on his knee and leaning his head back against the wall.

"I guess… I just can't stop thinking that after all we went through to stop Daizo's plot, we still managed to cause new problems. It's not right."

Beast Boy cocked his head. "What, you mean like the Yōkai thing? Because I'm pretty sure a wannabe bank robber with illusion powers is still better than giant rampaging lizard monsters."

Robin couldn't help but crack a smile at that. "Can't argue with that." The smile disappeared, and he let out a grunt. "It's just… frustrating. And it feels wrong leaving other heroes to take care of it. But… I think the worst part is that I _just_ promised myself I'd stop stressing out so much. Turns out that's a lot easier to do when there isn't anything _to_ stress out about."

Beast Boy regarded his leader for a long moment. The two of them had never been super close – well, okay, they kind of were because everyone on the team had been through everything up to and including a freaking apocalypse together, and you didn't survive that kind of stuff without making some pretty tight bonds along the way – but he'd never had quite the same relationship with Robin as he did with their other teammates.

That was probably sort of his own fault, because there was a tiny part of him that still saw the guy as _The Robin_ , Boy Wonder, pretty much his idol. And then another tiny part of him resented Robin's very real flaws and was maybe kinda too harsh on him when he messed up, because then he couldn't _be_ that idol anymore. It wasn't like he was supposed to be that anyway, because he was a teammate and a friend instead, but in the end it was always easier to let the guy have his personal hangout times and his touchy-feely talks with Starfire, or Cyborg, or even Raven.

But just because another way was easier didn't mean he couldn't still try. And it was moments like this that reminded him that… well, that Robin _was_ human, more than anyone else on the team if you wanted to get technical, and that if he locked himself into that perfect hero picture for too long it usually resulted in bouts of Super-Serious Loner Mission Mode. And Super-Serious Loner Mission Mode was… not a good time.

Besides, the Titans weren't just a team, or even just a group of friends. They were family.

Beast Boy grinned. "Well, if it helps any, I think New Robin's doing all right for himself."

Robin raised a skeptical eyebrow. "Really? You keep saying that, but it's only been a few days and you _do_ know it's not like I never relaxed before now."

Beast Boy offered up a small shrug. "Didn't take a near-death experience for you to agree to the feels talk this time though. And with me of all people." He rolled his eyes in mock-disgust. "It's no wonder Star likes you; turns out you're just a giant ball of mush under the tough-guy shell."

Robin snorted in amusement and gave him a playful shove. "Come on, let's have breakfast," he said, pushing off the windowsill and making his way to the door.

Beast Boy saluted. "No prob, Rob."

"Don't start calling me that," Robin called back without turning around.

"No probin, Robin?"

"Okay, that only makes it _worse_."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If anyone is curious about what the heck Thunder and Lightning's not-so-artfully dodged story is here, a side story about them can be found in the Moments chapter titled "Storm Shelter." It takes place while the whole group is doing karaoke (albeit mostly as a framing device), so feel free to take a look!


	6. The Continuing Adventures of Date Night and the Single Squad

"What do you mean, a date?!"

Robin gave Beast Boy the most deadpan look he could through a domino mask. He was remarkably good at that, and the mask did not hinder his efforts in the slightest.

"We're _dating_ , Beast Boy. That's what people do when they're dating. They go on dates."

Beast Boy flailed about aimlessly over his breakfast. "But… but we're on vacation! You guys can't just ditch us!"

Cyborg raised an eyebrow. "Why not? It's not like we have to do everything together."

Beast Boy groaned and flopped dramatically on the table. "But I finally figured out where Wakamono Shukan moved! We were gonna take the tour tonight!"

Starfire perked up with a small gasp. "Oh! Please do not visit the factory without us, I was very curious about their printing process!"

Beast Boy remained slumped over, but he raised a hand and waved it in a 'This is exactly what I'm talking about' gesture.

From where she sat, Raven just rolled her eyes. This conversation was getting them exactly nowhere, and despite her efforts yesterday, she was already getting another headache.

"Just do the tour tomorrow," she cut in. "You're the one who said we'd have all week."

Beast Boy let out a small huff in response. Fine by her.

Cyborg, predictably enough, was all about this date. He leaned over the table with a huge grin on his face. "So, spill the details! What are y'all planning?"

Robin smiled a little shyly as he glanced at Starfire, putting a hand over hers. "We found a play going on this afternoon that sounds interesting, and we're thinking of an early dinner afterwards. Nothing too fancy, but it should be nice."

Starfire smiled back at him and leaned over to gently bump her forehead against his. Raven couldn't help but smile herself at the show of affection, sappy as it was. It was nice to finally see those idiots acting on their feelings for each other without trying to pass it off as platonic afterward.

Meanwhile, Beast Boy perked back up with a skeptical look on his face. "A play? Don't you need to know the language to understand what the heck's going on?"

Starfire shook her head. "The theatre has special performances with English introductions and narration to help immerse travelers in traditional Japanese theater. It should be most fascinating!"

Cyborg nodded. "Well all right then. You kids have fun; we'll find another way to keep occupied." He jabbed Beast Boy with an elbow as he added, " _Won't_ we, B?"

Beast Boy rolled his eyes in exaggerated fashion. "Yeah, yeah, go do adorable date things. We'll just have to find something awesome to do. Right, Raven?"

Raven simply took another bite of her eggs. "That will probably depend on your definition of 'awesome.'"

* * *

Robin took a deep breath as he looked up at the stately visage of the National Theatre of Japan. The building front had a deceptively simple design, with a slatted sort of wall beneath the high overhang and a hanging row of paper lanterns as the only obvious sources of decoration. Whatever the architect's intent, it mostly served to make him more curious about the elegance hidden within. He wondered if he and Starfire, their practical uniforms for once replaced with formalwear that belied their rough and tumble lifestyles, gave the opposite impression. For some reason, the thought made him nervous.

That doubtless had much less to do with the theatre itself and more with the fact that this was his very first date. And no, that one time with the Junior Prom did not at all count – that had been less a date than a nightmare, a ruse he'd been forced to go along with accompanying someone he neither knew nor liked so he could buy time. Even if it had ended with him and Starfire getting to dance together… which he'd told himself for several months afterward had just been a way to give back to the prom they'd crashed by honoring tradition. Idiot.

Point was, this was his first _real_ date, and it was with someone he should have been going out with ages ago. It needed to be… not perfect, necessarily – he knew what happened when you expected _perfect_ – but at least something good and special.

This made things extra frustrating when he realized just how quickly the night was going out of its way to ruin itself.

"No. No no no no no, this can't be right," he muttered, running a hand through his hair as he looked back and forth between their two tickets and the multilingual sign over the ticket window.

A worried frown creased Starfire's features. "What is it?"

Robin grimaced. "I think we got the dates of the plays mixed up! This one is only in Japanese." He groaned and cast her a sorrowful look.

"And the sign says the last showing of the specially narrated one was last night, so we can't just switch times. I'm sorry, Star."

But Starfire was already looking over the tickets with a thoughtful frown. "…You mainly wished to see the English version so you could understand what was happening in the play, yes?"

Robin cocked his head. "Well… yeah. Why?"

A twinkle of something almost… mischievous flashed across Starfire's features. She took his hand, and he suddenly found it very hard to focus on anything other than the soft cherry-blossom pink of her dress and the light curls in her hair.

"Then perhaps I can be your translator." Leaning in until her forehead brushed his, she added quietly, "Would you like that, _amai_?"

Robin stiffened at the sudden intimacy, his heartbeat quickening to a frantic pace. _I would absolutely like that_ , he wanted to say, but as he tried to arrange the words into a coherent sentence, something got mixed up.

"I, I, uh… Wait, was that a Japanese endearment? What's it mean?"

Starfire giggled and pulled back. "It translates as 'sweet,' but truthfully, the Japanese do not have many endearments. They use nicknames instead, but I do not yet have one for you, so I improvised."

Her grip on his hand tightened a little. "Now come! We should see the full theatre before the play starts."

Robin just sounded a vague affirmative as he let her lead him toward the imposing building. He was all too aware of the heat in his face (which was dumb because they were dating now, why did he have to be awkward about it _now_ ), but mostly he just got the sense that tonight wasn't really going to go as planned.

And honestly? That was shaping up to be okay.

* * *

" _This is a terrible idea."_

_Cyril grinned. "You mean the one you came up with? Couldn't agree more. One-hundred percent awful."_

" _Says the one who put the spells in place." Ikaia tried valiantly to ignore the teasing smirk on the other man's face and keep his own trained on the outer grounds. Work never really stopped at the Academy, just slowed when night came; they needed to find an ebb in the normal flow of students and staff. It wouldn't be the end of the world if they were spotted wandering to town for a late-night jaunt, per say, but the less attention they attracted the better._

_Behind him, Hanne let out a low grunt. "You have to admit you flew straight into that one," she told him. "Incidentally, I can't say either of your opinions on our daring quest are the most encouraging. Are you sure you can't just get your father to grant us some leave?"_

_Ikaia shook his head. "Nope. Politics."_

_Hanne –_

"Oh Raaaveeeen!" The sudden interruption was punctuated by a series of loud knocks, and Raven jolted a little as it tore her from her story. She looked up from the book and made a valiant attempt to bore a hole through the bedroom door with her glare.

"Hey, ya decent?" Beast Boy continued. "We wanna make plans for tonight!"

Raven let out a low sigh. Her teammates usually weren't bad about leaving her to her personal time, but when Beast Boy and Cyborg got it into their heads that it was time for her to leave her room and socialize a little, they could be frustratingly difficult to get rid of.

Begrudgingly, she slipped a bookmark into the novel and made her way to the door. Opening it a crack, she hissed, "What is it?"

Cyborg and Beast Boy were wearing exactly the kind of big dumb grins that said there would be no avoiding them. "It's like I said!" the latter piped up. "We gotta figure out what we're doing tonight!"

Cyborg leaned a hand on the doorframe. "Yeah, and since you've been in kind of a funk lately, we figured it would help if you got to pick. Consider tonight 'Raven night!'"

Raven's eye twitched. "First off, telling someone they're in a 'funk' isn't exactly the best way to improve their mood," she deadpanned. Raising up her book for emphasis, she added, "And second, maybe what I want to do tonight is finish this without any more interruptions. Ever think of that?"

Beast Boy groaned. "But you've been reading that all evening! Come on Raven, at this point Robin and Star are gonna be back before we get to do anything!"

As _tempting_ as incessant complaining made his offer, it did surprise her a little that it had already gotten that late. She resisted the urge to check the time, and instead simply raised an eyebrow.

"Your point?"

Cyborg grimaced a little and put up a placating hand between them. "Okay, look, let's put it this way. If you just want to chill and read your book, that's fine, but it might still be fun to get out of the hotel room while you're doing it. We could go to a café or something. Uh, unless you really want to just sit tight. It's your pick, after all."

Now that offer really _did_ sound tempting. Raven pursed her lips and thought it over for a few moments.

"…You two ever heard of a cat café?"

* * *

Robin was trying very hard not to dissolve into snickers. After all, laughing at your date was probably not the best way to ensure your evening went well.

In his defense, it was a _cute_ funny. After the play, he and Starfire had found a nearby restaurant with a traditional flair to it; nice without being uncomfortably ritzy or expensive. The latter quality was perfect for what they wanted from tonight, while the former meant they were now kneeling on floor cushions while they ate, primarily with the help of chopsticks.

Chopsticks which he was fairly certain his girlfriend was currently cursing out in Tamaranean. Her face was screwed in a mask of concentration, nose all scrunched up as she tried again to adjust her awkward grip on the utensils and use them to pick up a small chunk of meat. Holding her breath, she managed to pinch the morsel gently between the sticks… and then fumbled and dropped it almost as soon as it left the plate. She hissed out another one of those non-English words she sometimes used when angry, ' _gorsnak_ ' he thought.

He'd almost forgotten how adorable she looked when she was trying to figure out something new.

Starfire glanced up at him, and he quickly went back to his own food and cleared his throat. "Ah, you need some help there?" he asked casually.

Starfire huffed at the ease with which he scooped up his noodles and brought them to his mouth. "These utensils are confounding," she said.

The corner of Robin's mouth twitched into a lightly teasing smile. "No kidding?"

His partner slumped a little in her seat and started stabbing hopelessly at her food. "On Tamaran, knives and spoons are used for preparing and serving food, not eating it. Why must one use unnecessary assistance to _eat_? Even in your Earth cultures you have the… 'finger foods' which are not intended for utensils." She huffed again and slapped her chopsticks back on the table with enough force to shake it.

"But at least the forks and spoons are direct. These narrow sticks require so much precision! Who decided it was necessary to make eating so complicated?"

Now Robin did laugh, a soft chuckle that drew her angry glare toward him. "Sorry, it's just… I think it's just a matter of practice. If you think this is too much, you've never had to deal with formal dinnerware at a high-end party."

Starfire looked him over skeptically. "That is where you must use a specific piece of cutlery for every course, yes?"

Robin nodded. "Yup. Can't say I miss those." He smirked at her knowingly. "And it's still nothing compared to whatever the rules are behind Tamaranean formal dinners. I don't care how many people are climbing on the table, there's no way those are _just_ a complete free-for-all."

Starfire blushed and averted her gaze at that, but Robin's smile only widened into something more jovial. He scooted his way around to her side of the table.

"Here. I'll show you how to hold them."

The fact that this made a convenient excuse to get closer to her was not lost on him, and he privately relished how her blush deepened a little when he placed one hand over hers as a guide and used the other to help her find the right grip on the chopsticks.

"See? So, you just move your fingers like this, and…" He caught her eyes on him and looked back up. "What?"

Starfire was staring at him though half-lidded eyes. "You are doing this on purpose."

It took Robin a moment to realize what she meant. He shrugged nonchalantly. "You're the one who spent the whole play whispering dialogue in my ear, and now that I think of it, I'm _pretty_ sure they had translated audio available. I'm just repaying the favor."

In response, her mouth twitched into a little smile, and she leaned over and gave him a swift peck on the cheek. He squeaked, promptly forgetting what he was doing, and she giggled a little as she finally managed to grab her morsel with the chopsticks and pop it into her mouth.

"Mmm. I thank you for the assistance; I may be able to master these after all," she said casually.

Robin could feel himself blushing again, and he scrambled back to his own spot as discreetly as he could. "How do you keep throwing me off-guard like that?" he asked in a tone that was _very definitely not a whine, shut up_.

Starfire smiled sweetly at him. "You are aware that you are not very difficult to fluster, yes? I find it rather endearing."

Hmph. Well, at least he'd managed to fluster her too. And if she found him _endearing_ …

Well, he wasn't going to complain about that.

* * *

It hadn't taken Raven and the boys long to find what they were looking for. Cat cafés were popular in Japan, so it was no real surprise that one was only about a block or so from their hotel. It was a pleasant place, decorated in rich warm tones and whimsically painted surfaces for its feline residents to climb on.

Of course, the café's proprietors probably hadn't expected any _customers_ that could make full use of those climbing surfaces. Raven watched from the corner of her eye as a spotted black-and-green cat hopped from one starry purple shelf to the next, playfully chasing his new friends along the wall. About half the people in the building were watching as well, a few of them laughing in delight.

Hey, at least Beast Boy was keeping their attention off her. She had given up on her book entirely by now, and was instead scratching a purring tabby behind the ears while she enjoyed a cup of sakurayu, one of the café's seasonal teas. It was nice. The sleepy tabby reminded her of Silkie… or maybe it was just that Silkie reminded her of a cat. It surprised her how quickly she had come to miss the bug.

Beast Boy bounded over to Raven's sofa and morphed back into a human so that he was draped over its back. "You made a new friend?" he asked, that perpetual grin on his face.

The tabby cat had startled at his appearance and sat up, tail swishing lightly as it gave him a wary look, but a few soothing strokes of Raven's hand settled it right back down. She gave Beast Boy a sidelong glance. "Could be."

Raven liked cafés. They were quiet and subdued in a way, less hectic than other popular hangout spots. Tokyo was more crowded than Jump, and even back home the barrage of noise and energy and souls could get draining quickly. This was like an island of relative calm in a raging sea, a way for her to rejuvenate without having to hole up in her hotel room.

The tabby stood up languidly, stretched, and then hopped onto Raven's lap to curl up and settle down again. Beast Boy's ears perked up at that, and he morphed into the cutest cat form he could muster and gave her his best kitten eyes.

Raven returned them with a flat stare. "Don't even think about it."

Feline Beast Boy let out an overdramatic huff and turned tail, trotting over to where Cyborg sat with a cat on his own lap and talking animatedly with another café patron.

"Hey, BB," he said when the green cat jumped onto his shoulder. "This is Ryo. He's an event planner who works at that Budokan place we passed by when we were having that picnic yesterday."

Raven returned her attention to her drink and her furry friend, but she couldn't help overhearing the conversation as Beast Boy returned to human form to speak.

"Cool! Anything happening tonight?"

A good-natured chuckle, presumably from Ryo. "It wouldn't be the Budokan otherwise! There will be a general martial arts demonstration starting up pretty soon."

A pause. "You know, there should be some time to get you in if you're interested. I'm sure the exhibitors would love to have such prominent guests."

Raven had a feeling she knew where this was going, but she couldn't bring herself to mind. She picked up her tea and studied it for a moment, using her free hand to absently tickle under her cat friend's chin. Potent stuff, she supposed.

"Ooh! Let's do it! Cy, we should totally go."

"Well… I mean, it sounds cool, but aren't you forgetting whose night it is? Although Raven did want to go back to the Kitanomaru area…"

Okay, now she could _feel_ their gazes shifting to her. After a moment, she glanced their way to see Cyborg and a still-human Beast Boy pulling off some rather impressive kitten eyes, with a slightly baffled-looking Ryo behind them. She let them stew a moment longer before giving an exaggerated shrug.

"Sure, why not?"

Beast Boy and Cyborg let out loud whoops, startling her cat again, and Raven hid her light smirk behind another sip of her tea. Those two were so easy to please.

* * *

"No way. You're joking me."

Robin was grinning like an idiot as he walked with his date down a scenic road not far from where they'd eaten. Small, colorful shops proudly displayed their wares in nearby windows, and several cherry trees dotted the lane, their falling petals fluttering in the breeze. Other people roved the streets as well, but it wasn't really crowded and the two of them had not yet captured anyone's attention.

Starfire laughed, tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ear. "Robin, you have seen the gloorgs before. You should have been able to guess how a story of two children attempting to ride one would end."

Robin snorted in amusement. "Yeah, and I'm sure those diplomats wish you hadn't."

They both chuckled at that, and then lapsed into an easy silence, simply enjoying the cheerful atmosphere and one another's company. Robin let out a contented sigh. He didn't know what he'd been so worried about. Really, this date was hardly any different from when the two of them would go out together as –

Robin froze, eyes widening a little. "Oh my God."

Starfire paused and turned toward him with a concerned frown. "What is it?"

"Cyborg was right. We've been dating this entire time."

Starfire smirked at that, her eyes glinting with that hint of mischief that had become disconcertingly common for her over the evening. "And now you understand why I was so confounded by you on Exxis."

Robin's face flushed at the reminder of their planetary stranding mishap. Starfire's smile only widened, but she offered an arm to him so they could continue their walk. He took it, rubbing the back of his neck with his free hand, and they continued down the road.

Still, the conversation had gotten him thinking. After a few moments, he glanced to her with a thoughtful frown.

"Hey, can I ask you something? Well, two somethings, come to think of it."

"Of course."

Robin chewed the inside of his cheek. "I… Well, you said Tamaraneans only use, ah, 'lip contact' for your language… transfer… thing, right?"

Starfire nodded. "That is correct."

"So then, what do your people do instead? Of kissing, I mean. For, um, romantic purposes. That is."

"Hmm." She let her gaze drift into the distance as she thought. Finally, she said, "I suppose our closest equivalent would be the 'butt of the head.'"

Robin blinked. "The… what?"

Now it was Starfire's turn to blush. "That may have been said erroneously. What I mean is, when two Tamaraneans who are friends or allies wish to show affection, they sometimes knock their heads together. Like so." She stopped them, turned toward him, and slammed her forehead into his with a force that made him see stars for a moment.

She blushed again at seeing him stagger from the headbutt. "Sorry. You must understand why I avoid doing that with our friends, yes?"

Robin shot her a reassuring half-smile and resisted the urge to check his forehead for bruising. "A little bit, yeah."

Some of the light returned to Starfire's expression as she continued. "As I said, that is for ordinary friendships and such. But a longer and more tender touch is considered far more intimate."

To demonstrate, she cupped a gentle hand behind his neck and pressed her forehead against his. She smiled softly, gazing so deep into his mask that he wondered if she could see through it to his eyes. The thought thrilled him, more than it maybe should have.

…He really needed to have a talk with the old man about taking the stupid thing off in the Tower and trusting his team with their identities. He'd been leaving the matter be for the sake of… okay, mostly for the sake of not having to bring it up, but it just seemed wrong to keep up the whole secret identity thing in this kind of relationship.

Something suddenly clicked in his head, and all thoughts of masks and awkward phone calls vanished. He hadn't noticed it before, considering humans weren't exactly unfamiliar with the concept of gentle headbutts, but now his mind flashed back to all the times she had made this exact move in the past few days.

"Oh. _Oooohhh_." He grinned playfully at her. "You're very forward, has anyone ever told you that?"

Starfire laughed at the friendly jab, pulling away and taking his hand in hers. "What was your other question?" she asked innocently.

"It's, ah, kind of related. Earlier, you were talking about Japanese endearments and nicknames and how it doesn't really work the same way as in other languages. That takes a pretty solid understanding of the casual language, but you only just, um, 'picked up' Japanese, and meanwhile your English is…"

Heat rushed to his face. "I-I mean, your English is _good_ , and it's really improved since you first started! Not that it was _bad_ before! I just mean the idioms and… stuff… didn't seem to come with the… Oh God, just kill me now."

Robin buried his face in his hands. He took everything back, this date was a disaster, he'd just insulted his girlfriend's way of talking to her face.

It took him a moment to register that Starfire was laughing softly. He felt a hand gently pry his own from his face, and he looked up to see her wearing an easy smile.

"Robin, I am well aware of my imperfect use of the English language," she reassured him. "I take no offence. You simply want to know why it is different from my understanding of Japanese, yes?"

The one hand now firmly returned to her grasp, he used the other to nervously rub the back of his neck. "Yeah."

Starfire shrugged. "The answer is simple, really. When I first came to Earth, I was… in something of a rush. I thought that I would only need to know some basic English so I might warn you and anyone else away from risking yourselves by interfering with my escape from the Gordanians, and that I would shortly leave the planet, unlikely to return. So, I did not maintain the required contact long enough to absorb your full and complete knowledge of the language." She glanced away a little awkwardly. "When we arrived here, there was… no such hurry."

"Oh." So, he hadn't imagined just how uncomfortably long her little not-makeout session with that guy had been. Uggh. He quickly shoved the unwelcome memory back into the recesses of his brain.

And then something significantly more interesting took its place.

"So, how well you understand a language depends on how much time you spend absorbing it," he started slowly. "Would it also help if you… tried that more than once? Say, if you wanted to brush up on a language you didn't get right the first time?"

Starfire just stared at him for a moment, before breaking into a devious smile. "And you said _I_ was the forward."

Robin grinned. "What? I'm just trying to give my best friend some advice. I don't know how much practice you'll need, though."

"Mm-hmm." Had she moved closer to him? He was pretty sure she was getting closer. "It may take some time, considering the circumstances."

"And if it needs to be the same person as the first time, well, I suppose I could help you with that."

"How very thoughtful of you." They were only inches apart now, but she spared a moment to look around. "I suppose we should find a less busy locale, so we do not… disrupt…"

Robin frowned as she trailed off. "Star?"

In response, Starfire pointed at something behind him. "Is that Cyborg?"

The first thought Robin had as he turned around was that these interruptions had better not become a habit. He was about to tell his teammates off for crashing the date when he realized she wasn't pointing at a person, but a sign.

_Tonight only, at Nippon Budokan!_

_The Budo Masters are proud to welcome_

_Special surprise guests_

_The Teen Titans!_

An image of Cyborg – taken from an old newspaper article about the team, he thought – accompanied the paired English and Japanese text. As he watched, the electric sign flashed and the picture switched to one of Beast Boy mid-transformation into a tiger.

Robin turned back and met Starfire's gaze. She looked as utterly baffled as he felt.

" _What_ ," he wondered out loud, "have they gotten themselves into?!"


	7. Budo-Can You Dig It?

To be totally honest, Cyborg wasn't entirely sure how he and his friends had gotten themselves into this.

Nippon Budokan was a massive arena built for martial arts competitions and exhibitions, though it was often host to other sports and events as well. Tonight's exhibition was already running through its opening ceremony when he, Raven and Beast Boy were welcomed in, so it was little surprise to him that they were pulled to the side and asked to wait a moment.

Rather than hold back a few minutes and then give them the go ahead to slip into open seats between the ceremony and the first demonstration, however, a member of the event staff had eventually approached the group and asked which of the night's arts most interested each of them. It seemed seven were being shown. Karate, aikido, and judo were all primarily forms of hand-to-hand combat and takedowns, kendo and jukendo focused on weapons fighting with wooden swords and bayonets respectively, and kyudo was a form of archery. And then there was sumo.

"That's a kind of heavyweight wrestling, right?" Cyborg had said. "I guess if I had to pick one to try, it would be that one."

The staff member's pleasant smile had grown somewhat concerningly wide at his words. "You do not know how pleased we are to hear you say that."

The next thing he knew, he'd been ushered with the others to a back room where the exhibitioners awaited their demonstrations and fitted with one of those sumo belt-slash-loincloths. Now he found himself trying to hold some starting pose he'd already forgotten the name of while three actual sumo wrestlers checked over his form.

One of the wrestlers, who seemed to have the best English of the group, hummed in thought, and came forward to adjust Cyborg's footing. "Not bad for a beginner," he said as he stepped back. "This should be very interesting."

Cyborg concentrated on his footing and held back a grimace. Despite the wrestler's encouragement, he couldn't help but suspect that the term 'interesting' referred less to his own skill and more to the amusement the audience would be getting from his first attempt at the sport.

A sudden commotion by the doorway to the main arena shook him out of his thoughts, and he looked up. He thought at first that the aikido demonstration must have just wrapped up, but that wasn't who came in.

"Robin? Star?" He stood up and approached the very confused looking pair as they were ushered in by event staff. They were still in their evening wear, and he winced at the sight. "Please tell me our wacky misadventures didn't interrupt your date."

Robin's face flashed with annoyance for a moment, but he shrugged it off. "We were… about finished anyway, so we figured we might as well check this out. We stopped to grab some spare uniforms, at least," he added, gesturing at the small duffel bag slung over his shoulder. "Looks like we had the right idea."

He glanced downward a little awkwardly, and as he looked up again, he raised a brow. "Actually, I have to say I'm much more curious about what _you're_ wearing."

It took Cyborg a moment to realize he was talking about the loincloth. He cleared his throat and reached up to rub the back of his neck. "Oh. Yeah, it's called a _mawashi_. I'm gonna be with the sumo group."

As this conversation was going on, Starfire had occupied herself with taking in the room around them. "Fascinating," she muttered. "So, we are to partake in this evening's demonstrations somehow? Robin and I have not gotten much guidance since we arrived here."

Cyborg shrugged. "It's pretty straightforward. Just pick a martial art that hasn't been shown yet, and the people doing it will teach you some basic techniques if you don't know them and then get you to show off what you've learned during their exhibition. You saw Raven and BB coming in, right? They're both out with the aikido group now."

To be honest, Cyborg suspected that this whole setup was mostly a way for the Budo Masters to get free advertising through the public's interest in his team. He wasn't really complaining, though. He wasn't sure he could get much more immersed in the culture than this, taking part in a demonstration of Japan's national sport inside Tokyo's famous martial arts arena.

It wasn't long before the noise in the other room picked up drastically, and the sumo wrestler who'd been helping Cyborg laughed as he came up behind him and clapped him on the shoulder. "I hope you are ready! That means we are next!"

And so it did. A flurry of activity brought the aikido team backstage, Raven and Beast Boy in tow. Raven was already re-fastening her cloak and pulling away from the group, but there was a subtle smugness to her expression that was probably left over from winning the match Cyborg had witnessed between her and Beast Boy. As for BB, his ears perked in surprise when he spotted Robin and Starfire, and after a quick good-bye to the aikido team he grabbed Raven and jogged over to greet the rest of them.

Before the five could meet up properly, however, the sumo team was off. Cyborg followed his group into the tightly packed main arena, and he could see a raised square platform already placed where they'd be performing in its center.

The crowd in the stadium erupted when they saw him and the wrestlers, and he honestly couldn't tell how much was directed at him specifically verses the upcoming demonstration. Not knowing what else to do, he smiled wanly and waved, silently wishing for the easy confidence he'd had around spectators back in his football days.

'Course, the fact that he'd had a chance to properly train for football probably had something to do with that.

From what little he'd seen of the aikido demonstration, Cyborg knew he would be part of the 'opening act' as it were. While the announcer's introduction of the group cut its way through the roar of the crowds, he followed his sumo guide up onto the platform. He took a deep breath as they both got into position.

The wrestler smiled jovially in response to his nervousness. "Do not worry, friend," he said in a low voice that wouldn't reach the audience around them. "I know you are new to this. Be assured I will go easy on you."

Cyborg allowed himself a wry smile and dropped into a crouch, mirroring his opponent. "Not too easy, now. I gotta give these fine folks a good show somehow."

They went through the starting ritual motions of wiping their hands and stomping their feet, as Cyborg had been taught earlier. There was a beat, he thought, a sort of collective holding of everyone's breath, and then the announcer called out again. The match began.

Cyborg quickly went through what he'd learned as he and his opponent crashed together. For all his lack of serious training, he knew that sumo greatly emphasized physical strength and heavy, unyielding weight – two attributes which he had in abundance. He fully intended to push his advantage, so he picked a straightforward-sounding technique that seemed close enough to his combat training. _Oshidashi_ , he thought it was called.

With both hands, he pushed hard against his opponent's chest. The wrestler did similarly, gripping under his arms and straining, and the two struggled against one another. Hands fought to maintain the better grip, and feet danced one another toward the edge of the ring. Cyborg pushed and shoved for mere seconds that seemed to stretch far longer, and for a moment he thought he had the upper hand.

Then, all at once, he found his feet leaving the ground. The wrestler had gotten ahold of his belt and was suddenly lifting him bodily into the air. Cyborg's human eye widened, and he flailed about hopelessly. He had no idea how to counteract this.

It was over in a moment. Cyborg was so unprepared for what had just happened that when the wrestler dropped him out of the ring, he fell right over and onto his back. As he groaned his way to a sitting position, he spotted a flash of green off in the doorway to the next room, and a quick glance confirmed that Beast Boy had watched the bout.

And, by the evil grin on the string bean's face and the communicator he was holding in front of him, he'd recorded the whole thing.

The announcer started up again, but Cyborg ignored it as the sumo wrestler walked over and offered him a formal bow of the head. "For a beginner, that was impressive," he said. With a small, concerned frown he added, "I did not hurt you, did I?"

Cyborg smiled weakly. He'd have loved to say that he felt no embarrassment over the outcome of the bout, but that was hard to do when he was down on his butt while his friend giggled madly over the instant replay of his flailing about. "Only my pride."

* * *

The crowds seemed to grow more and more delighted as the exhibition continued. It wasn't long before Starfire had played her part in the kyudo demonstration, and she returned to the waiting area to find Cyborg and Raven milling about nearby and Beast Boy practically in her face.

"Dude, that was awesome!" he cried, bouncing on his heels. "You have got to use a bow more often."

Starfire blushed and shook her head, although she did return her friend's proffered high-five. "Simply because I am trained in archery does not mean I understand much of Japanese _hassetu_ ," she said. "The ceremonial aspects of kyudo are most intriguing, but trying to follow along made me feel like a young _grishnik_ stumbling after its mother."

Beast Boy waved her comment off. "Eh, whatever! You still did better than Cyborg. Right, Cy?"

Cyborg looked over from where he was trying valiantly to sprawl in a folding chair too small for him and raised a forefinger. "Okay, first off, sumo is a competitive sport. Of course I'm gonna look worse against a trained opponent than I would have against a target. No offense, Star, you really did do pretty well."

His tired frown gave way to a smirk. "And _second_ , I seem to remember Raven kicking your butt in the aikido match. And she's _not_ a professional."

Raven shrugged. "I've dabbled in similar styles. We can't all rely on turning into a bear when criminals get into close quarters."

Beast Boy grimaced, and then followed it up by sticking his tongue out at each of them in turn. "Yeah, well I'd like to see proof! I'm the only one who thought to take videos of us, so if I didn't record it –"

"At least a dozen people in the audience did, and will doubtless upload it on the internet," Raven cut in.

Beast Boy froze up at that. "…Fair point."

Starfire laughed a little at their antics, but something was bothering her. "Where is Robin?" she asked. "I know that his group is next, but I have not seen them go in yet."

"I'm here."

The four Titans turned to see a cluster of martial artists in heavy black gear, clearly getting ready to head through the big double doors into the arena. Her eyes widened as one of them pulled up his barred helmet to reveal Robin's masked visage.

"I think I managed to pick the most heavily armored skill in the exhibition," he said, smiling a little awkwardly. He brushed a hand over his black lacquered chestplate and fiddled with a glove, as if uncertain about what to do with it all.

Cyborg shrugged. "I mean, you _are_ gonna be smacking each other with fake swords. Extra padding makes sense to me."

Beast Boy grinned and whipped out his communicator. "Sweet."

Starfire just squeaked.

See, Earthen superheroes had this distressing tendency to forgo armor more-or-less completely. Starfire understood why this was; she wasn't exactly decked out herself, after all. The kinds of powers and weapons they went up against often couldn't be stopped by simple metal plates or sheets of reinforced fiber, and lightweight clothing that allowed full freedom of movement was generally held in higher regard than a bit of extra defense.

But Tamaran was a warrior culture, and it showed in more ways than one. Back where she'd grown up, warriors who weren't actively in heavy combat still tended to wear armored accents on their clothing, like her own collar and vambraces. It offered some admittedly limited protection if need be, but it was also considered very… Well. She had always likened it to the American custom of 'liking a man in uniform.' A Tamaranean who pulled off the look just right easily rose several points on the scale of desirability. Indeed, after only a single night on the planet, Cyborg was widely considered the rough equivalent of a dreamy pop idol.

Anyway, all she could think about now was that when Robin finally switched up his uniform like he kept saying he would, she was going to insist he find some way to add in a little light body armor. For purely practical reasons, of course.

For his part, Robin seemed entirely oblivious to the way her eyes roved over his kendo armor. He gave his bamboo sword an experimental swing and said, "Thanks, I think. Looks like we're about to start." He slipped the special helmet back over his face. "Wish me luck."

Starfire could only nod mutely as the leader of the kendo team called for everyone to head out. She shared a quick look with her remaining teammates, and the four of them scrambled for the doors just as they were about to shut behind the group.

It took them a few moments to situate themselves around the crack Cyborg had wedged open. "How are they gonna show off which one is Robin with all that gear on?" he whispered.

"I dunno, but I am definitely recording this one for posterity!" Beast Boy said with a cackle.

Raven glanced down at him. "And by 'posterity,' you mean…"

"I mean this exhibition is a piece of history! And also fun. Mostly fun." Beast Boy pursed his lips for a moment. "Maybe a little blackmail on Cy's end."

" _Hey_!"

Starfire lightly swatted her friend on the shoulder, her eyes never leaving the stage. " _Shh_ , it is starting!"

The kendo team had gathered around the small arena set up for them, and two of them stepped forward as the announcers spoke up.

"For our final demonstration this evening: kendo. This is the way of the sword, descended from the art of the samurai. We have one final guest with us to demonstrate, and we begin with our first match."

From where he was leaning over her, Starfire could hear Cyborg shifting to get a better look. "Hold up, they still haven't introduced him under all that armor? Is this gonna be like an unmasking at the end?"

Beast Boy hit the video recorder on his communicator. " _Awesome_."

The two competitors got into position, swords drawn, and the match started. For a few tense moments, there was very little movement aside from them tapping the tips of their swords against each other. One of the two (Starfire wasn't sure whether it was Robin or his opponent) let out a sudden yell.

Beast Boy gave a soft cackle. "Robin sure picked the right martial art."

No sooner had he said that than there was a flurry of movement. There was a lunge and a stomp, and the wooden swords clashed together with a hard _clack_.

The observing Titans went silent as the two fighters faced off, locking swords for just a moment before pushing off and striking again.

"That's… I think that's a point for Robin," Cyborg muttered among a cheering crowd, while the announcer gave a quick run-down of the sport's point system and the two opponents set themselves up to face off again. With a snort he added, "Twenty bucks says he finds something to criticize himself over anyway."

The match continued, and Raven started to get fidgety among the spirited shouts and clashing bamboo.

"Beast Boy, switch places with me," she said curtly.

Beast Boy glanced up at her. "Huh? Why?"

"Because I can't hear myself think over how hot Starfire finds all of this."

Starfire stiffened, blushing furiously. She deliberately kept her eyes on the match, but she was certain her teammates had all turned their attention to her. Raven almost never discussed the emotions she sensed from her teammates, so she must have been projecting badly for the empath to blurt it out like that.

"Umm…" She honestly wasn't sure what to say in this situation.

Raven shrugged, a little awkwardly in the tight space. "I get it. It's a honeymoon phase thing, don't worry about it. _Right_ , boys?"

Starfire's train of thought screeched to a halt, and she scrambled back and out of the doorway, wide-eyed. "A honey–? Why are you speaking of a honeymoon, I thought we were merely dating! Did I miss some Earthen wedding custom?!"

Cyborg grinned good-naturedly and raised his hands in a placating gesture. "You're fine, Star," he said. "She's not talking about a literal honeymoon, it's just a saying that's used for any new development in a relationship, and – Will you _stop recording this_!"

A wrestling match over Beast Boy's communicator that would have made the sumo wrestlers proud promptly ensued, which was only made worse when Raven's magic slipped in to try and snatch the thing from both boys. But even with the distraction, Starfire couldn't help but feel flustered about this whole thing. Human courting could be so _confounding_.

So could the English language, for that matter. She really needed to fix that.

* * *

Robin managed to win his match, although with the way the crowd went wild when he 'unmasked' himself at the end, it was doubtful that the members of the kendo demonstration particularly minded. Cyborg would then proceed to 'win' his bet (though no one had actually bet against him) when Robin came back muttering something about how he'd gotten rusty on his kendo.

All told, everyone was in high spirits by the time they returned to the hotel for the night. Robin answered Cyborg's probing questions about his and Starfire's date with considerably more confidence in the subject than he'd had before the team's trip, and Beast Boy occupied himself with rewatches of what he considered the highlights of the evening.

When the doorway to the Titans' suite came into view, Beast Boy declared that he was going to upload the whole thing and made a break for it. Cyborg and Raven followed close behind, half to make sure he didn't put anything unnecessarily embarrassing on the internet and half to see if someone had beaten him to it with a video that contained his own match against the latter.

Thanks to this distraction, none of them noticed when Robin and Starfire didn't immediately follow them in. Without a word, they both slowed and stopped in the hall, glancing a little shyly at one another.

Robin fiddled with the bag now containing their formalwear and cleared his throat. "So, uh, I think the evening went well. Did you have fun?"

Starfire lit up with a playful smile. "I found it most enjoyable. I… believe there is still one thing left to do, though. Do these dates not typically end with the 'good night kiss?'"

That smile of hers was infectious, he found. He could only imagine how goofy the one breaking onto his own face looked, but he couldn't say he minded. "Yeah. Yeah, I think that would work."

Starfire stepped up to him and brushed a hand against his cheek. "Good. Because as I recall, you earlier offered to help me with my English. I believe now would be a good time to accept that offer."

Robin had just enough presence of mind to drop the duffel bag to the floor before leaning in, but he couldn't recall much beyond offering a vague hum of agreement before all his thoughts were occupied with the gentle warmth of her arms around him and the softness of her mouth against his.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have zero shame for the terrible pun in the beginning of this chapter. Okay, maybe a little shame.
> 
> This concludes my second "batch" of written up chapters, so there might be a bit of a wait before I'm ready to update this story again. I've already gotten a lot done in the next batch, though, so it shouldn't take nearly as long as the last gap did. Hope you all are enjoying so far!


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